Sarawareta
by Drazehv
Summary: One simple error in the fabric of space can affect many things. Sarawareta is what happens to a single girl and her friend, taken up in the cruel hands of fate. And the definition of Sarawareta? Kidnapped, Abducted, Carried off, and Swept away...
1. HEY GUYS THIS STORY SUCKS CAUSE I WROTE

**Author's Note: **This story is a blast to write! This is my first time using Fanfiction to publicly display a work of mine. You're probably used to different writing styles, but I am used to this one and that will not change. Since it is my first time, a review or something would be nice xD Anyhow, see ya next chapter, I guess.****

Disclaimer: Naruto is copyright Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made creation and in no way associates and/or reflects the views of Masashi Kishimoto and any other companies. This disclaimer applies to further chapters._****_

Sarawareta

  
Hours ago, I was diving in the murky, green lake water. I found some piece of junk, picked it up, then BOOM, flash, earthquake, and quiet. There weren't even any bubbles to show. I surface, tread for a while, boat comes by, _bam_, I get hauled in, _bam_, I get knocked out, and by the way, _bam_, I wake up to find myself on the floor in the deck of a sailboat. Next to me, my friend is lying there.  
Okay, maybe I need to go a bit further back.  
My friend's family and I were on a boating trip. Motorboats, mind you, and we were anchored in a cove, hanging out. My friend was heading over towards me (so he told me) when I dived. I found this weird piece of junk, like a rainbow sphere with little black rods sticking out of it. What was it made of? I dunno. What the hell was it? I dunno. Why was it in the 10foot bottom of the cove? I dunno.  
So, naturally, I pick it up.  
Then, of course, back to the BOOM, flash, earthquake, and quiet. I surface, but there's no motorboat there. Or cover either, by the way.  
Then a sailboat comes by, I wave for help, and they take me in, and inject me with something that makes the world go black.  
I don't like writing out this part of the story, because it hurts to do so. The last bit of home... You'll see what I mean later. I'll speed through this.  
My friend- you'll know him as Hanetora- told me that he experienced a flash and earthquake, and then, the same thing happened to him, except the got him first. We were tired and drowzy, so we just went back to sleep, awaiting our fate. In the morning, though, I woke first, noticing that the people on the boat were up and about, boarding and unloading and stuff.  
We had reached land, and Hanetora wasn't beside me. I heard him outside of the boat, struggling to break away from whoever was holding me. Someone approached me, I fake slept, they took me onto land, cut the ropes from which I was bound, and set me down on the sand, going to get something else. I made a break for the forest beyond this beach we were on- there was beach, forest, and a BIG path cutting through part of it, leading to some castle-like thing. I was halfway to the forest by the time they came after me. And here is where my story begins.

_In and out. In and out._  
My feet, one by one, in front of me as I picked my way through the forest.  
_In and out. In and out.  
_I had to keep my breathing steady, or they would hear it. Those bad men chasing me.  
I heard crashing noises. They had entered the forest.  
I searched around on the ground frantically. There! A rock, the size of a softball. I picked it up, and immediately questioned if I could throw it.  
Time was running out. I had to.  
I concentrated all of the little arm strength I had, concentrated really hard, and threw the rock. It sailed a nice distance before making a mess of the vegetation it crashed- no, _ripped_ through.  
I had time to wonder _did I throw that?_ As the men shouted, "There she is!" And took off in the direction of the rock.  
I cut sharply to my left, planning to circle back and look for Hanetora. I felt kinda strange, though.  
I was stalking silently, nervously. And suddenly, I heard the men talking, from a good distance away. I stopped and turned my head towards their direction, trying to hear what they were saying.  
"God damnit! If we let her get away, do you have any idea what Kabuto will do to us?"  
"Why is this bitch so important anyway?"  
"Because," the first man answered, "She and the boy seemed to come out of nowhere. No chakra was detected being used for any sort of jutsu."  
My heart back flipped. _Jutsu? Chakra? They can't mean...  
_"If that was teleportation, or something really advanced-"  
"Doubt it," the second man sneered.  
"Than Orochimaru-sama will want to know about it. Extract it, possibly."  
My heart double back flipped with a half twist as a thousand confused thoughts whirled through my mind.  
A joke.  
This had to be a joke.  
Turning around, panicking, I started to run.  
I never really got that far, though.  
A sudden lurching jolt as an arm wrapped around my midsection, stopping my progression.  
My skin tingled as cold steel touched my neck. A blade?! I raised my head instinctively, trying to get away from it.  
Someone's right arm held the blade- a curved _kunai knife-_ while his or her left arm was restricting me.  
Arm around me.  
Blade at my neck.  
Body at my back.  
"Now now," the voice said smoothly. It had a mocking edge to it. "Your plan was brilliant, but we can't have a valuable experiment such as yourself escape. Your little friend was quite the annoyance- I personally liked your tactics better."  
"Who are you?" I whispered in fear, my voice shaking as the captor moved the knife to my neck. And I recognized the knife suddenly. A kunai knife used by-  
The captor let go of me and stepped back. I turned around.  
"Kabuto," the silver-haired nin smirked.

I thought about bluffing. They thought I had some sort of power? Maybe I could use that to my advantage...  
No. I would have used them by now. Ninjas weren't stupid.  
I couldn't believe it. Did it have to do with the crazy psycho earthquake flash that Hanetora and I experienced?  
I swayed back and forth with this sudden big, daunting mess I was in. I leaned against a tree, then slid to the ground, not believing it.  
Kabuto walked over so he was facing me. "Now, you can make things really easy for yourself, or really painful." He came closer, so there wasn't even a foot between us, and knelt down. "You can come along like a good little sheep, or I can use force." He put one hand against the trunk of the tree, and leaned forward. "Don't make me use force," he whispered into my ear.  
I was shivering when he stepped back and stood up, but I forced the fear down and stood as well.  
And everything that was going on suddenly dawned on me. I wasn't going to go home.  
"Please," I pleaded, "don't separate me from Hanetora. I can't lose my lifeline. Don't take that away."  
I didn't _like_ like him, but he was a very close friend of mine. I'd known him forever, since I was a baby- he was a year older than me.

Kabuto knew whom I was talking about, but didn't answer. His glasses flashed completely white as he turned and started heading out of the forest, to the castle.  
And I followed, knowing I was powerless to do anything. 

Hanetora had been knocked out because he kept on struggling. When I saw his body, I gasped- he was bruised from being hit by the guards, even though he didn't stop fighting them. His red hair was all messed up, and he had a cut beneath his right eye which was bleeding enough to scare me.  
"Let me carry him!" I nearly shrieked to the guard, who handled him carelessly. His body was slung over the guard's shoulder, flopping like a corpse.  
It was Kabuto leading two guards and I, walking down what seemed to be an endless tunnel. It was dark.  
The guard looked at me with a raised brow, walking on my left. The guard on the right snickered. Kabuto was more or less in front.

Just as carelessly as he carried him, the guard dropped Hanetora onto me, making my knees buckle. For the sake of pride, though, I held, and move my friend so I was carrying him fireman-style.  
It wasn't easy, let me tell you. Hanetora wasn't fat, but he was larger than me, and muscled. Muscle weighs more than fat, added that I don't exercise and have very little arm strength...  
I was struggling after them, trying to keep pace. The tunnel, to my dismay, seemed to stretch out forever.  
Finally, after what seemed like hours (but was only a few minutes), we came to an opening, where a dimly lit room stood. And we were met with someone.  
"My my, what do we have here?" A drawn out, cruelly playful voice dug into my mind like a snake, instilling fear into me.  
The guards stepped back and turned to leave, having done their job.  
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of my face at the effort of carrying my friend. I kept my gaze down, fearing the worst.  
Cold, white fingers reached out, catching the bead on my cheek.  
And shaking, I looked up into the wicked, grinning face of Orochimaru.

If I hadn't been holding Hanetora, I would have fainted.

Yeah, I was that much of a wimp. But this was Orochifreakingmaru! So cut a bit of slack. If you thought he was scary in the anime, he's definitely scarier up close. and if you didn't think he was scary in the anime, he was still scary up close.  
"I sent you on a scouting trip to search for the _artifact_..." Orochimaru hissed (not a pun, he was seriously pissed) to Kabuto, "and you bring me a pair of children? Explain yourself."  
Kabuto bowed. "We were very close to where it was said to be. But there was a flash of light, and these two children appeared out of nowhere. No sign of chakra or jutsu used, and I don't think they have the ability to conceal it."  
Orochimaru was interested now. He turned his glare onto me. "What a curiosity," his voice drew out. "But why the girl carrying the boy? She's having quite the struggle." He smirked mockingly.  
My cheeks heated. They both had a mocking look on their face. My body was quivering because my muscles weren't used to the strain.  
"She didn't like the way the guard handled her friend, so she asked to carry him." Kabuto smirked, then explained the story in fuller detail to Orochimaru, how Hanetora struggled, and so on.  
I wanted to site down, but pride, once again, kept me up, my muscles quivering, sweat rolling down my forehead more freely.  
There was a pause as Orochimaru thought. "I'll have them interrogated. Until then, cage them-"  
I looked at Kabuto.  
"She requested earlier not to be separated from her friend," Kabuto said quickly, then quoted mockingly, "Please, don't separate me from Hanetora. I can't lose my lifeline. Don't take that away."  
Orochimaru laughed, which creeped me out. "She looks like she's about to faint. What's your name, girl?"  
"Hi-hi-hisakat-t-ta." I managed to get out under the strain. It was getting harder every minute. I had a feeling they were stalling on purpose.  
Orochimaru grinned. "We'll have to see about you, Hisakata." Then, he faded away into the darkness.  
Kabuto looked directly at me. "I'll take Hanetora- no use in straining a possible experiment." He starting reaching out to take him...  
"No!" I snarled, and my own ferocity surprised me. I was reacting with the natural instincts of a cornered animal. "Leave him alone." My voice was somewhat cold.  
Kabuto just smirked. "Suit yourself. Now, no point in keeping our interrogators waiting. Follow me."

We passed through a couple of rooms before getting to the one I would be confined in. It was morbid, but I stared at the surroundings with great interest. People were treated like animals, herded and waiting in grim monotony. After we finally reached mine- it was a bare room, save for a cage in the corner, in which contained a single bed.  
"Quite interested in the landscape, aren't you?" Kabuto muttered as he led me to the cage, then his hand started glowing blue. He waved it over the door of it (no visible lock), which came open.  
Knowing obviously and grimly what to do, I walked into it, and a wave of relief washed over me as I set Hanetora on the bed, and collapsed on the floor, panting.  
Kabuto chuckled, then left, leaving me to my thoughts.  
_I'll find a way out. I'll find a way out.  
_After I more or less regained my strength, I walked over to the door- just a separate thing of bars- and rattled it, looking for a hint of a lock anywhere. After finding none, I slumped down and recalled the events that led to this.  
The biggest thing nagging me was when I was running from the guards in the forest, and I threw the rock to make them think I was there. _How did I throw it so hard? It freaking tore through the vegetation like butter._  
I thought of how hard I concentrated, and it suddenly became easier, but I felt awkward afterwards. I thought of Kabuto's hand glowing blue as he opened the lock...  
Suddenly, it clicked.

I looked around the corner.  
Hanetora was in my arms. I tried to save my strength, however, for I was going back the way I was led. I knew the way perfectly- I recognized certain rooms, and knew I was heading in the right direction.  
Soon, I would be at that long, godforsaken hallway.  
The slave people in the other rooms looked at me as I hurried past, and they knew what was happening. I could only hope they didn't say anything- they didn't. Instead, whoever had the strength made an encouraging wave with their hand. Other just shook their heads, as if it was useless- I ignored them.  
I reached the hallway. Running, I concentrated greatly at my legs as they propelled me across the place.  
My speed increased greatly. I was really close to the entrance of the tunnel..!  
I didn't want to be stuck in Orochimaru's base. If I wasn't tortured or killed, I would be experimented on, and be turned into some kind of monster. So, naturally, I tried to escape. I was scared to death. The castle was like death to me, I didn't understand it, or want to be around it.  
The light at the end of the tunnel! I was going to be free, Hanetora and I were going to escape...  
The light got bigger and bigger.  
_Almost there!_ I thought frantically.  
_Almost there!  
You can make it!_  
Ten feet...  
Eight feet...  
Six feet...  
Four feet...  
Two feet...

The light engulfed me, and it was warm. _This is what freedom feels like,_ I thought.  
The freedom didn't last. The freedom never freaking lasts. When had it ever?  
Orochimaru was standing right in front of me.  
"No!" I shrieked, skidding to a halt, and cutting sharply right, heading for the cover of the forest.  
Something curled around my right ankle and I tripped, going flying. Hanetora was thrown. I wondered, for a second, why he wasn't waking up. _Oh, god, did they drug him too much? Was he being too difficult?_  
Whatever curled around my ankle slithered forward and up in an arc, hissing menacingly.  
Snake. Biiig snake. Reticulated Python-sized snake. Bigger.  
I kicked at its muscular body (at least, what was around my ankle) with my other foot, _hard,_ and the snake's grip on my ankle loosened. I started to get up made it to my feet,, but the snake swooped down suddenly and bit down on my shoulder, and I cried out in pain as blood went flying.  
The force of the monster snake made me fall on my back, where it viciously pushed into the bite, it's body writhing.  
I screamed in pain. And right as I did, something came and leaped onto the snake.  
Hanetora.  
He managed to bush the body off me, though the head was securely latched onto my shoulder with backwards-facing teeth. And I felt something go deeper, front fangs that pierced muscle.  
_Oh god, that means-  
_"Hanetora!" I yelled as he hacked at it's tough scales, "I think it might be venomous!"  
Hanetora's face went white for a second, then he immediately took action. Grabbing the snake's head, he stabbed at the place behind its eyes, where the venom sacs would be located in a normal snake.  
There was a burst of blood, then, a yellowy liquid started to ooze out.  
"Shit!" Hanetora screamed, hacking with a new ferocity at the snake. Finally, he dug his knife _under_ the scales on its throat.  
The snake screamed and ripped its head back, tearing my flesh with it, more blood flying. _My_ blood.  
I cried out again, this time, the snake writhed on the ground in front of us as blood gushed from it's throat, dying the sand.  
I grabbed my shoulder, tears of pain spilling down my cheeks. Never had I felt this much before.  
Orochimaru started walking towards us, grinning a sharp-fanged grin. Hanetora stepped in front of me, and I recognized his hunting knife.  
"You stay away from us, bastard!" He shouted, and I knew he was scared and confused, recognizing the whole Naruto situation as well, and not understanding it.  
"My my, what a greeting for the first time I see you awake." Orochimaru taunted, having not stopped walked towards us.  
"I'll kill you," Hanetora snarled.  
Orochimaru laughed at this. "Maybe I should just dispose of you, and interrogate the girl. We do only need one body." He held his arm out. From his sleeve, a snake shot out, smaller, more agile, and more lethal in poison. It came rapidly for Hanetora's neck.  
"No!" I shrieked, stumbling in front on Hanetora with my arm held out to protect myself.  
The snake bit into it, pushing me back against Hanetora, who caught me.  
The snake's body was still attached to Orochimaru's sleeve.  
"Please," I whimpered from the pain, "if you promise not to kill us, we'll come quietly."  
"Hisakata!" Hanetora said in disbelief.  
"Please, Hanetora," My eyes were averted to the ground, "I don't want to be alone here. I don't want you to die."  
He was quiet, shaking with the urge to protest.  
"You know we won't win. You know we'll fall sooner or later."  
"We're most likely going to end up dead anyways. Why not fall fighting?"  
I looked at him. "Because there's a chance we might live."  
Hanetora was usually never this discouraged. He _did_ have less time to get used to it, but still... I was scared.  
Orochimaru laughed. "I promise, then," he grinned, voice dripping with malice, "That I won't kill either of you. But tell me, dear Hisakata, how did you escape the cage?"  
I shot him a hateful look. "I opened it with chakra."  
Hanetora stared at me in disbelief, and Orochimaru laughed. "What a surprise. Come. A promise is a promise."  
"He's lying," Hanetora whispered to me as we started following him back into the castle.  
"I know. This is our best option."

We sat on the bed in our cage, Hanetora checking the wound on my shoulder.  
"Wonder why I'm not dead from a double dosage of venom?" I asked Hanetora.  
He shook his head. "Orochimaru probably held his snakes back."  
I had explained everything that happened to him when we got there. Now, we were waiting in grim silence.  
"I bet it has something to do with the earthquake flash thing, why we're here, I mean," Hanetora said.  
"That's what I thought," I sighed, then winced as he touched the wound for a second.  
"I can't believe this is happening. I wrestled a giant freaking _snake_..." I muttered.  
"Hisakata, I have something important I think you should know," he said seriously, "I was out pretty bad back there, but when the snake first attacked you, and you cried out- it was like I heard it directly in my hed. In my _heart_. My eyes opened already with a killer intent." Hanetora stared at me. "It was something I've never experienced before. I mean, I was ready to fight when my eyes opened."  
I thought about that. He wasn't referring to love, but something else. "I think I know what you mean," I said, "It was the same feeling I got when the guard handled you roughly. I mean, I freaked- almost angrily a little. I asked the guard if I could carry you."

"Wait, you carried me all the way here?" Hanetora said in disbelief. I nodded, and we both laughed. But it faded away into gloomy darkness.  
"This sucks. Of all places we appear in, we appear where Kabuto is looking for some artifact."  
We both looked at each other. "That's it!" We said at the same time.  
"The artifact!" I said excitedly.  
"The piece of junk!" Hanetora replied.  
"Must have powers!"  
"Put us here!"  
"They're looking for it!"  
Hanetora was thinking furiously. "We can bargain our way out of this," he said, "Take them to where it was."  
"We could get to it, touch it again, and we'd be back home." I added.  
"That's a great idea, but it's not there." A new voice entered our conversation.  
Our heads whipped around.  
Kabuto... damn!  
"What'd you hear?" Hanetora demanded.  
"Everything." He started walking towards us. "Unfortunately, it's not there. We had a team look. It probably disappeared after you activated it."  
He stopped, and looked at me. "Even if we had it, we wouldn't let you go home. Even if we find it again, we won't let you go home."  
"Why?" I asked, my heart sinking.  
Kabuto started pacing. "That artifact has powers," he said, "Powers we couldn't even imagine. According to your conversation, it 'brought' you here."  
Two people- guards- entered the room behind Kabuto.  
"You will one by one be interrogated." Kabuto finished simply.  
"Not together?" My heart leaped to my throat. I didn't want to be alone with three enemies...  
"No." Kabuto smirked. "And you're going first, my dear."  
I froze, fear zipping through my veins.  
Hanetora came and stood in front of me protectively. "Why not me? Interrogate me, do what you will, but leave Hisakata alone."  
Kabuto laughed. "Such a protective friend. But no, Hisakata there showed the first sign of fear, and we haven't even started. It'll be easier to get information out of her. Step back, unless you want us to make it worse than it may be."  
Hanetora stepped back, but not before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and whispering, "We'll tell them the exact same thing, right? No pain."  
I nodded numbly, and walked forward as Kabuto opened the cage.  
And they took me to interrogation.

I stood in a bare, four-walled room, just cold steel everywhere. I was facing Kabuto, and the guards stood at the door of the room. There was barely any light.  
"What did you mean when you said the artifact 'brought' you here?" Kabuto started it off, my heart pounded, I stared him straight in the eye and answered quickly, "I don't come from this place. I come from another world, and we were on a boat trip in the lake when I was diving, touched the artifact, Hanetora was near me, and I guess we got transported here or something." I took a breath.  
Kabuto's eyes narrowed. It sounded ridiculous, but I said it too fast for it to be a lie. "Incredible. I wonder how the journey between worlds alters the body..."  
And, in a predator's glare, he looked directly at me.  
And I filled with dread, knowing what it meant.

There wasn't too much interrogation. Hanetora pretty much gave them the same answer, and we were left unharmed, just like Hanetora said we would.  
We were quiet on our single bed. Hanetora said that I could have it, that he would sleep on the floor. I said no, it should be the other way around. Finally, we agreed on sharing it, though neither of us were sleeping. We were too afraid that we would be operated on, taken away while we were sleeping and waking up not knowing what happened.  
So we just sat leaning against each other, waiting for nothing.  
I was painfully aware that I was only wearing a swimsuit, which was torn at the left shoulder. We were just abducted from the cove two days ago.  
Hanetora was a bit luckier: he wore his shirt with his swim trunks. It was dry by now.  
Noticing my worry, Hanetora took of his shirt and put it over me. "Don't worry about it," he said before I could protest.  
I was too tired to be modest- he was out for most of today anyways. "Uh." I grunted sleepily.  
"Get some sleep. We'll take shifts, so we each-"  
"No. Just- we both sleep. I don't care what happens."  
Hanetora stared t me. "Have you given up already?"  
"No- I'm merely waiting, wishing, for a miracle. And I make better wishes in my sleep."  
Hanetora smiled. "I just have nightmares about being chased by clowns with lighters."  
I laughed.  
"No, seriously. It's fucking scary." He laughed a bit too, then settled with a soft smile. "I know we'll get through this."  
"Yeah, sure as hell we-" I yawned- "Will." Moving the measly excuse for a blanket, I wiggled under it, then turned to face the wall.  
Hanetora put his share of the blanket over himself, scooting to we were back-to-back. He knew I'd prefer being towards the wall, and thus, slept on the outside portion of the bed.  
With his larger frame bringing warmth to the cold, deathless room, I felt safe. I knew it wouldn't last, but I relished the moment, and fell into a silent, dreamless sleep.  
"Night." Hanetora said.  
"Night." I replied. We didn't bother putting 'good' in front of them, because it probably wouldn't be.

I woke up to the feeling of being carried. My eyes shot open- and closed tightly. Bright lights were lining this particular hallway.  
As my eyes adjusted, I opened them and took a glance around.  
Guards were carrying us, Kabuto leading them. Hanetora was pretending to be asleep. He had been watching me. As soon as our eyes locked, we thought the same thing- don't let them catch you awake.  
I closed my eyes.  
We eventually entered a room of some sort, and I stole a peek. I had to bite my tongue not to cry out.  
There were many labbish tables filling the large room, each with a child underneath some blanket, or attached to some I.V. drip, or something else.  
It was terrible.  
I closed my eyes.  
We were taken past that room, into a much smaller room that had slightly more advanced atmosphere. There were two recovery beds there (luckily, right next to each other, with room to walk in between so they could check us or something), and further off, an surgery table.  
My heart was pounding by the time we were lain on the beds- I had never had surgery before, much less this horrible thing they were about to do to us.  
As soon as the guards left, leaving us pretending to be asleep on the beds and Kabuto walking over to the surgery table to prepare stuff, we opened our eyes and turned our heads to each other.  
At the surgery table, Kabuto chuckled- he knew we were faking the entire time.  
Hanetora and I locked eyes. Everything was said right then, between the two of us. Our hearts beat together. I felt his fear, he felt mine.  
Our arms outstretched, we held hands, and just stayed that way, staring at the ceiling with our hands holding.  
"Stay strong- don't **ever** give up. Promise me." Hanetora suddenly told me, as if he was going to die. I felt what he was feeling- dread. Instinctive, terrible dread.  
"I promise," I said, my voice choked with tears.  
"No matter what happens, I want you to live."  
"I will. I promise that I will never fail you." I nearly stuttered, but didn't want to. Tears were streaming down my face now.  
So we held hands, waiting for a miracle.  
We stayed that way when Orochimaru came in, stayed that way when we heard the equipment being prepared and such. And then, when Kabuto announced that they were ready, and that Hanetora was going first, he was injected a couple times with different stuff, and as he started fading out, he whispered to me,  
"Hisakata- now may be a bad time, but I love you."  
I was shocked for a second, but then- relieved. Because...  
"I love you too," I said with all of my heart in the complete truth.  
He nodded once, then his eyes closed as he was put under. And I knew, he was relieved too.  
As they took him away, they could do anything they wanted, but it didn't matter- he was at peace.

I heard all the instruments they used, and it was terrible- it was like a horror movie. No matter what, though, I couldn't make myself look. Turn around the corner and see his lifeless eyes, and the blood...  
I shuddered and sank deeper into the white bed covers.

Hours later. I was wide awake the entire time, wondering, waiting, _what did they do to him, when do I have to go under...  
_The wait alone was torture, constricted in my own thoughts. But when I finally heard them moving him back to the bed, I was fully focused on them. I wanted to close my eyes, I didn't want to see Hanetora, but they stayed wide open as Kabuto came around the corner carrying him...First his brown, messy hair appeared, then his face...  
I sighed. It wasn't the monster scene I expected. Still, I was afraid to ask the one terrifying question...  
"Is he dead?" I whispered.  
Kabuto looked at me. There was a long, dreadful pause.  
"He's alive."  
I gave a sigh of tremendous relief, then looked back at Kabuto.  
"What did you do to him? What are you planning for us, anyway?"  
A smile crept across Kabuto's face. "Remember when I wondered what the travel between worlds did to the body? We did some testing to try to find out what, and found tremendous power levels hidden within the body."  
I nodded slowly.  
"So we made the decision to try an experiment that kept failing and killing the other children. It is a part of a certain curse, combined with animal DNA- the end result is that the human gains great power, but in return, loses his mind and soul- thus, making the power controllable. We gave up on it, but then you guys come along... So we took advantage of those mysterious high power levels, and attempted it once more."  
I gulped, fearing the worst- whichever one it was, I wasn't sure. "Did it work with Hanetora?"  
And Kabuto gave a horrible, horrible smirk.

I screamed. I looked at the person that was once my friend, closer than my friend, and cried out, yelling, screaming, thrashing, tearing what I could apart, throwing things. And my hands and feet glowed blue with chakra, and I was attacking everything except Hanetora on his bed, until finally, Orochimaru was restraining me using snakes as ropes, and I sobbed pitifully, tears gathering on the floor.  
Not only was Hanetora gone forever, but I was next. And even if I made my way out, I was alone. Hanetora was alive, but he was _gone_.  
Orochimaru was a tad annoyed at having the room blown to bits, minus one bed, and surprisingly, Kabuto did suffer bruises and cuts.  
Still locked in my state of sorrow, I yelled, screamed till my voice was hoarse "I know who you are, you fucking bastards! You're a gift from Sasori to Orochimaru, and you use the same abilities as medic-nins do to fight and to help with the experiments! And you're a traitor from Akatsuki, you launched a war on Konoha, but the Third Hokage destroyed use of your arms using the Death God! And you were fighting using the former hokages, and you have Uchiha Sasuke somewhere here who's training to kill Itachi, who's with Kisame Deidara, Tobi, Zetsu, and those other two who are collecting the Tailed Demons and all you can do is wait until Sasuke's ready so you can take his fucking body, and use it as your own for the Sharingan you failed to get from Itachi!"  
Orochimaru and Kabuto stared in disbelief.

Suddenly, the doors to the room were thrown open, the resulting slam broke the silence in which I was sobbing. I looked up, tears running down my face.  
"The castle is being attacked," Uchiha Sasuke said emotionlessly.

Orochimaru withdrew the snakes, so I fell to my knees. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.  
"Watch her," Orochimaru commanded as he left, Kabuto in his wake.  
The doors closed after them.  
I looked up at Uchiha Sasuke. He looked back.  
"What did you do to make Orochimaru restrain you like that? I've never seen his face that way before." His low, cold voice had a hint of laughter in it. He showed it with a smirk.  
But I could not stop thinking about Hanetora. How could I?  
"He's dead, he's dead..." I moaned, crying into my arm.  
Sasuke looked at Hanetora. "So what experiment did Orochimaru conduct this time?"  
"You emotionless bastard!" I yelled, my hands and feet were glowing with chakra again as I leaped at him.  
Unfazed, and unlike Orochimaru, not caring about damaging test subjects, Sasuke simply leaned over to the right, and suddenly, slammed his fist into my stomach.  
I doubled over, the wind forced out of me. A bit of blood came over my lip, and he let me fall to the floor, eyes wide as I gasped for air that never came.  
"Tch." He said, looking at the pitiful me.  
After a full minute of no air, I sucked in, feeling a sharp, but wonderful breath of air entering my lungs. I stayed on the floor for a second, panting, before I got up and wiped the blood from my lip. Then, without saying a word, I climbed into my bed, and stared at Hanetora.

After a long silence, I finally spoke. "Orochimaru took his mind and soul in return to give him power- power that he can control, unlike yours. You're just gonna kill him."  
Sasuke stared at me in disbelief.  
_Take that, bastard- I know your plan._  
While Sasuke stood speechless, I looked up, me eyes _dark_.  
Hanetora was dead.  
"Foolish little brother," I spoke coldly, and Sasuke's eyes bulged, "If you wish to kill me, hate me, deteste me... And survive in an unsightly way. Run. Run and cling to life."  
I was glaring at Sasuke, who was at a loss for what to say. His eyes shook for a second, then they hardened into a glare. "Who are you?" He demanded as he drew his sword.  
"Hurts, doesn't it?" I said, laughing like a madman.  
"I'll kill you." He was shaking with fury.  
My voice grew into an angry, forceful kind of laugh. "It hurts to lose people, doesn't it, Sasuke!?" I shouted.  
"Shut up, bitch!" He yelled, starting to run forward.  
"I've lost so much more than you have!" I kept on shouting.  
He was on me in before I knew it.  
The end result, was him with his hand curled around my neck, holding me up against the wall. Well, he had _slammed_ me against the wall...  
"What have you lost that I have not?" He asked coldly, voice with a steely edge to it.  
"My best friend- who, unlike you, I didn't try to kill." I managed to get out through clenched teeth.  
Sasuke roared and slammed me against the wall again, infuriated that I knew everything about him.  
"And-" I continued before he could stop me from saying, "The chance to ever see- not _just_ my family, but all of my friends, everyone. Basically, they're all dead. So basically, I _have_ lost more than you."  
Tears were streaming down my eyes now. I was not ready to deal with the loss of my family, much less the loss of Hanetora.  
Sasuke's hand tightened around my throat.  
"Ah-!" I sputtered, barely any air to supply even that.  
Sasuke let go and I dropped to the floor, all crumpled up.  
I panted for a minute. All was quiet as we were both unsure of what to say.  
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked finally.  
I tried to get to my feet, my legs shaking.  
"I'm not from around here," I sighed as I held onto the bed for support. "I'm not a mind reader, either. It's too long of a story. But please, listen- I need to get out of here."  
"Why are you being used as test subjects?"  
"Because Orochimaru thought our bodies would be able to support it. And they are. Listen, if you help me out, I'll give you a valuable piece of information."  
He thought about it for a second. "Unfortunately, Orochimaru would know it was me-"  
"That ties in with the information. Please, get me out of here. Somewhere where he won't find me."  
Sasuke looked directly at me, trying to decide if this bit of info would really help him.  
"How can I lie?" I shouted, shaking with such a mix of emotions I thought I would explode.  
Sasuke nodded. "Alright. But you better be right, or after I kill him, I will hunt you down."  
"Trust me," I said which such truthful force, it would be hard not to. And I wasn't lying, either.  
"Let's go."

After a ways, in which Sasuke took passages I never noticed before, we were outside, on the side of the castle. You could hear a fight going on, but it seemed like it wasn't gonna end for a while. I was carrying Hanetora, which slowed us down considerably, so after a while, Sasuke snapped, "Let me carry him."  
It was much quicker after that. Basically, we cut through the forest in some direction I didn't know.  
Finally, the forest opened, and we stopped.  
Sasuke pointed down a somewhat wide, dirt road. "Follow the road for a while. You'll get to an abandoned shack after a few miles, where you can rest-"  
"I don't need to stop. I'm not weak." I lied angrily.  
Sasuke smirked. "And eventually, you'll get to a town."  
I sighed. "Alright, a deal's a deal, and I thank you a lot for helping me out-" I looked straight at Sasuke. "As soon as things calm down, kill Orochimaru. His current body is starting to die."  
Sasuke didn't say anything, just kept quiet, thinking.  
I looked down the road. It seemed stupid to travel in- you could see for quite a while- but I figured Sasuke knew what he was doing.  
"What about at night? There aren't any criminals or anything, are..." I started, looking up at Sasuke.  
He was gone, Hanetora laying on the ground. "There?"  
I sighed, picking up my friend. If I used chakra in my arms to carry him, and in my legs to run, then I could make it to the shack much more quickly, and with less effort.  
Concentrating, I started down the road with Hanetora in my arms.


	2. IT WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND STUPID, BUT I

**Author's Note: **The last time I posted the first chapter was when I was serious about the story. It was a bit of an insert, yes, but I don't do that much anymore. Anyway, this is a few years old, so I figured I'd put up the rest of the story to see what people think. Since I'm not really changing the story (mayhaps an edit here and there) I don't really care if you critique or not. Yes, it sucks. I was younger when I wrote it. So, here it is, chapter two! As always, R&R!~

_**Two**_

I could see the shack. We probably had two miles to go, but I could see it, a big, brown dot way down the road. And so far, we had encountered no people.  
Great!  
Walking was boring. It always had been for me. And I never walked while listening to music, because it wasn't a good idea where there were people you didn't know, if you catch my drift. So I would stay home, usually, playing Guitar Hero- which I was getting better at, until this.  
I cursed how I would never beat Hard mode now because of this, and cursed how I would never become a writer because of this, and cursed a million things that could have been, but won't be.  
_Shit.  
Shit.  
And more shit.  
Oh, and in case you were wondering, shit._  
One mile to go.  
I sighed, and suddenly, stumbled. But I caught myself quickly, blinking.  
My energy was decreasing rapidly. Why? Damn, I wasn't there yet!  
I remembered the time when I was horseback riding, and the instructor had us do heavy exercise (you exercise more than you think while horseback riding, for your information), and it was really, really hot out there. The horse's coats were five shades darker because of their sweat. Anyway, when we went in, I started to feel sick. Like, I couldn't work well, barely walk sick. And I had to stop untacking- one of the kind assistants took over for me. While I was heading back to the lobby, the wonderful, air-conditioned lobby, I felt so nauseated and weak that I started tearing. My legs didn't work right- walking was difficult, practically threw my legs out in front of me. And I thought I was going to faint right there, my head swam, the thirty-foot walk seemed like miles, but I made it without fainting.  
But this _was_ actually miles. Would it seem endless?  
My mom told me my blood pressure had dropped, and I needed to drink something sweet.  
Was my blood pressure going down? It definitely felt like it. I was feeling the same way that I did that day.  
_No!_ If I fainted where I was, we were both doomed. I would not be able to find help for my friend, and I would die- no one was coming by here, that was for sure.  
"Come on!" I grunted as merely holding Hanetora became increasingly difficult. "Come on!"  
I took step by careful step, worried I would fall. I couldn't fall. It would be the end for both of us.  
My head swam, and I had to pause. I took another step.  
My vision faded in and out, but I had to keep going.  
"One... more... step!" I told myself, panting.  
"One... more... step...!"  
"One... more..." My voice faded to a whisper. "Step..." And I passed out.

I woke up to the sound of running water.  
My eyes opened slowly, feeling gunky- that must have meant that I was asleep for a while. and judging by the light pouring in, it must have been morning.  
_But where was I?  
_I sat up, blinking tiredly. I wiped my eyes with my hands, then looked around.  
First, to my left... I was in a cabin-like thing... Had I made it to the abandoned shack?  
I was on a bed, and Hanetora was next to me.  
Okay...  
I looked to my right.  
A table, with food on it, and a bowl of water!  
But who...?  
I blinked again, and looked up.  
Oh, it was just Kisame.  
_WHAT?!_  
I froze- that's what I did when I was seriously scared, usually. I was trembling, though.  
He turned around and looked at me.  
And gave a wide, pointy-toothed grin.

I kept still, just my body involuntarily trembling. Oh, god, I was going to die...  
"Well, look at you," he laughed, "So scared. And before, you were quite the scary creature. Tore the skin of my arm." He laughed again, holding up his right arm. There were big gashes on it, running down his arm, looking wide and deep.  
"T-those are bite marks," I said, still afraid to move.  
"Of course they are."  
"How'd I give you bite marks like that?"  
He stopped smiling. "Oh, so you don't remember anything? We'll, I'll explain, then."  
"Why aren't I dead?" I immediately asked. "I fainted."  
"Let me explain," He snapped, then started. "I was just walking down the road. I had passed the shack when I saw the most interesting thing- a wolf."  
I was speechless. What did he mean? So what if he saw a wolf?  
"But this one wasn't normal," he continued, "It wasn't completely wolflike, but wolf enough- and larger and less bulky then a normal wolf. It had a mane on top, going halfway down it's back, and spikes jutting out of it's flank."  
I blinked disbelievingly.  
"It was dragging a big cat of some sort down the road- a big cat with wings relative to it's body. I couldn't tell what type, but it was bigger than the wolf. My first thought was that it was dead, and the wolf had killed it, and was taking it to wherever it dwelled. But the wolf snarled at me, and wouldn't let me pass. Thought I was-" he grinned maliciously- "A threat. I'd never seen anything like it before- it was ghostly. _Demonic,_ even."  
"So I thought I should take it back to-"  
"Akatsuki," I finished for him. He stared for a second, then grinned again. "I guess you know the cloak."  
I nodded meekly.  
"So I tried to subdue it with chakra strings- it put up a vicious battle, tearing my arm to ribbons. But the chakra strings were too difficult to get around it while it was moving- so I knocked it out, and the most amazing thing happened."  
I leaned forward slightly, anticipating what he was going to say.  
"The demons shifted into mere human children, lying helplessly on the road."  
I didn't believe him. How could I?  
Then again, why else would we still be alive?  
"Checking further down the road, I indeed noticed normal footprints, then suddenly, an area where you must have fallen, and large drag marks. So I brought you here, deciding to wait the night out."  
"Are you going to kill us?" I asked simply, slightly scared but more confused now.  
"No. I'm going to ask you about the incident."  
"Well, I have no idea. I thought you were making it up, but why else would we be alive? Anyway, that's all I know. Can I-" I looked at the food and water.  
"Yes."  
I reached out for the food- rice balls- and then stopped, realizing how easy it would be to drug me that way. For what, I don't know- make me less resilient?  
I stopped. But the water...  
No! No, I had to hold on. I would get away. Then, I would eat.  
"Is something wrong?" Kisame asked, giving a horrible grin.  
"I'm just not hungry, thanks." I turned around and looked at Hanetora.  
He seemed so peaceful- just sleeping, but I actually had no idea what happened to him.  
"Hanetora," I whispered, shaking his shoulder, even though I knew he wouldn't get up.  
Ever.  
"Hanetora," my voice squeaked slightly as I had to hold back a sudden awful wave of sadness that made me want to cry and cry and never ever stop. And I felt like I wouldn't be okay until I cried. But not in front of Kisame.  
"I see. The wolf wasn't attacking the cat- it was helping it." Kisame said, looking at me. "_You_ were helping him."  
"What's gonna happen?" I whispered, my voice choking as I held back tears.  
"We're going to head the post where the rest of my team is situated."  
"Why were you out walking?"  
"We are just waiting for orders for now- it was boring. So I went off to look for a little fun." His eyes glazed for a second as his lips pulled back to show his fangs again. "Something to cut up. Or, I should say, _shave_."  
"Samehada," I whispered fearfully as I spoke the shark-skin sword's name.  
Kisame's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"  
"Ugh." I clutched my head- it was aching. Too much stuff to take in, too much...  
Kisame's brow went up. "Well, because I don't know the type of creature that is, I can't slice off any limbs, because it might hurt the creature."  
I looked up at him, eyes wide. "What?!"

We left, I carrying Hanetora. Luckily, Kisame decided not to slice up any part of me.  
I was watching Hanetora in my arms.  
I wished he would wake up- I couldn't do this on my own. Hanetora was the one who came in the cove to see if I was alright, who stopped the giant snake from dismembering my shoulder, who gave me hope, who gave me courage and something to look forward to the next day, so I wouldn't give up.  
But now...  
There was nothing to look forward to but his lifeless eyes.  
He was smart enough to have a knife in the pocket of his swim trunks, though what for I don't know- maybe to hack away reeds or something at the lake?  
_The knife!_  
I nearly reached for it, but stopped. It would be better if I didn't give that away...  
We walked. Kisame must have not been walking for very long, because as soon as the town ahead was in sight, we took a left around it, went deeper into the forest, and finally, came to a well-hidden clearing.  
Where the other Akatsuki members were waiting.  
I stopped. My eyes closed, I summoned my courage to keep walking.  
So I nervously continued.  
I wasn't in good shape. I was tired, sweat came down my brow from carrying Hanetora, I hadn't eaten or drank anything for two days, I was bruised, and wounded emotionally, pysically, and mentally.  
For some reason, I wanted to comment on how my hair must have looked.  
I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud like a psycho again and followed Kisame.

There were three members there: Deidara, Tobi, and Zetsu.  
Deidara seemed indescribably bored, while Tobi was just hanging around (literally- he was up in a tree) and Zetsu just stood there.  
When Kisame and I entered the clearing, we had three pairs of eyes staring at us.  
Or should I say, three pairs of eyes staring at _me_.  
I glanced to the side and down.

"Can you explain this, Kisame?" Zetsu's voice came in like ice, making me freeze.  
"Actually, no."  
"Why did you bring children to our outpost?" Deidara said slowly, probably thinking how weird this was of him.  
"Because," Kisame smirked, "Just try to read their chakra levels."  
I looked at Deidara, whose eyes slowly widened.  
"Woah." Tobi commented.  
I didn't want to say anything, rather, I was too scared to.  
"There are plenty of powerful people, Kisame. Why bring these children to us?" Zetsu spoke in the exact same tone, unimpressed.  
"...If only you could see what I saw." Kisame smirked, then looked at me. "Hey, girl- how old are you?"  
I looked up at him, somewhat speechless. Chakra levels? What?  
"I asked you a question," Kisame said dangerously.  
"Fi-fi-fifteen." I stuttered, very- confused. Scared. Scared because of these people capable of taking out giant demons were in front of me. Confused because I didn't know how to react.  
"And the boy?"  
"What does it matter?"  
So quickly, so very quickly, Kisame swung his sword down at me. I barely had time to think, _how does he do that? That sword is huge!_ Before it came down.  
The tip stopped right in front of my face.  
The bandages around the sword started moving as the sword squirmed, trying to feed on any chakra of mine.  
"Did you say something?" Kisame hissed.  
"He's sixteen!" I replied quickly.  
Kisame grinned and lowered his sword.  
"So what do you plan to do with them, Kisame?" Deidara asked.  
"I plan to have their ability, kekkei genkai, whatever it is, evaluated," Kisame said. "If it's useless, we'll kill them."  
I froze again. God, just because I appear out of nowhere, people want to use some most-likely fabled power, or kill me?  
I had to get away. I didn't believe Kisame- I knew I was just going to die. I had to find a way to escape.  
I sighed as Kisame discussed the matter with the others, explaining what he saw.  
My eyes shifted to the left, where Kisame was standing right next to me.  
I pushed chakra down into my legs calmly- well, maybe I wasn't _too_ calm, thinking about what I was going to, but calm on the outside, hopefully.  
My fingers slid ever so slowly into Hanetora's pocket. I pulled the knife back in my palm, and Hanetora's body hid it.  
It wasn't too big- about the length of a small kunai knife. But it was thick enough to cause damage if hit in the right place.  
Walking over to a nearby log, I draped Hanetora's motionless body across it, then walked back to where I stood by Kisame.  
"So what was so impressing about them besides that they're mutated freaks?" Deidara asked bored-ly.  
"It was their appearance," Kisame replied with annoyance, "It was as if they were walking fog... Ghostly, but thick, like an aura, and still detailed. Completely white, except for the eyes and fangs, which were black. But where the black was, it was like a black hole. Endless. Seeming to overflow with darkness."  
This was all a lie. It had to be a lie.  
Why was Kisame making this up? What did he want with Hanetora and I? Why didn't he kill us when he had the chance?  
It made me angry, for some reason.  
Without yelling, like they do in movies, I turned as quickly as I could, brought my arm behind me, and stuck that sucker into where I estimated would be right below his ribcage.  
I stuck it in there, a line of blood flying, and dug it upwards as well as I could. Unfortunately, my anatomy of the human body isn't so good, and instead of hitting heart, I scraped bone.  
And then I was out of there, picking up Hanetora as I ran, bringing chakra to my legs, none to my arms- I could hold his weight for a little while, but I needed speed right now.  
I heard Kisame shouting in rage behind me, Tobi exclaiming something in surprise, and Deidara giving a simple "Hm."  
I ran like I had never run before. Seriously, my heart leaped well beyond my throat, it might have just left me by now. I was scared to death, unsure of why I had done this, sure it wasn't gonna work...  
_Just make it to town._  
I ran really fast, fear pushing chakra down into my legs.  
My pace increased.  
_Make it to town._  
I was out of the forest.  
_Nearly there._  
I drove myself hard, trying to break my meager limits.  
_Thirty yards away!_  
The entrance. I saw the entrance.  
_Come on, Hisakata, __**move**__._  
I was dreading what came behind me.  
Almost... there...  
The gate was rushing up at me. I was so close...  
So close...  
I was so damn close...

I made it.  
I couldn't believe it, but I made it.  
I was in there, pushing my way into crowds to lose my pursuers.  
Sure, I must have looked weird holding Hanetora, but I was passing by so fast most people didn't get much of a glimpse.  
And frankly, most people didn't care.  
_This is like New York._  
I thought, looking down alleyways for a good place to stop, hide, and catch my breath.  
I found one that stretched for a long way, then made a ninety degree turn.  
There were a few trash cans and dumpsters to hide behind. Lovely.  
I started running down that way.  
This was really sapping my strength, I had to rely solely on the use of chakra. My muscles were worn out from running so much the past few days, without food or water. I was sore as well, and my wounded shoulder started throbbing.  
I looked at it as I ran.  
There were two really big, deep holes, then a bunch of other smaller, but still large ones. Then, when the snake was thrashing around, it had ripped up the flesh badly. The arm hurt whenever it was moved.  
Not to mention the strain on it from carrying Hanetora.  
I slowed down and did a three-sixty, turning around, looking both up and down, checking that no one was there. Satisfied, but still worried, I ran down the street.  
I was almost at the turn.  
I already had a game plan.  
I would rest here for a while. One.  
I would snatch cloths or something. Two.  
I would attempt to get supplies, somehow, even though I had no money and I didn't have the nerve to steal. Three.  
Four is still blank, but I'll get there eventually.  
I was at the turn.  
I planted one foot down firmly and skidded around the corner.  
I ran into someone large, though, and fell back, Hanetora rolling off to the side.  
I was about to apologize, explain that my friend needed a hospital, but I looked up...  
And saw Kisame.  
And behind him was a dead end.

Kisame wasn't happy.  
He looked really pissed, actually.  
My eyes were wide with fear, and I was shaking badly.  
"I won't kill you," Kisame hissed, and I noticed blood dribbling down his robe where the knife was still stuck in him. "Instead, I think I'll have the Samehada you know so well cut you. I'll cut you up very, _very_ slowly."  
A tear rolled out of the corner of each eye. Oh, god, I was so afraid. I didn't move, didn't speak.  
"But not here." He grabbed the scruff of my shirt, picked up Hanetora, and disappeared.

We reappeared at the post, where Kisame dropped us.  
He then proceeded to draw his sword.  
I knew he wasn't going to harm Hanetora. As for me...  
Kisame pulled the knife out and threw it to the side.  
"Oh, this isn't good." Deidara snickered as he looked at Samehada.

"What's Kisame-senpai going to do?" Tobi asked, his head cocked like a dog.  
Zetsu remained quiet.  
"Just watch." Deidara laughed.  
I turned and started crawling away, feebly.  
Oh god, I was going to get tortured, no, no, don't let this happen. Somebody, anybody, this isn't fair, I was just living a normal life...  
A sudden powerful kick came to my stomach. The air burst from my lungs. I heard ribs snap.  
I was thrown against a tree; after hitting it, I lay on the ground, sucking in but not getting any air. Finally, some came in, and I started coughing terribly, until blood was running down my chin.  
I moaned; I had never broken bones before, much less multiple ones at the same time.  
"I'm not done with you, bitch!" Kisame roared, clear fury in his eyes.  
I managed to get to my knees so I could curl back against the tree, my arms in front of me in an instinctive manner of defense.  
Kisame grabbed my throat and lifted me up off the ground, my back against the tree. As his fingers tightened, he drew Samehada forward.  
I couldn't breathe or talk. I couldn't beg or plead.  
I was just defenseless.  
That, truly, was my worst fear.  
Struggling for breath, I tried to support myself. You know, in the movies, when someone's in a chokehold, and they're holding onto the their attacker's wrist with their hands? It's not to dislodge them. It's to gain support so they could breath.  
I was doing that, instinctively.  
_Instinctively._  
In my state, instinct was the only thing putting up any defense.  
Kisame's sword flashed.  
It took flesh off of my arms. Not just skin. Muscle and everything.  
I tried to scream. I couldn't. Just a _whoosh_ as the remaining air left my lungs.  
I squirmed. He said he would torture me, but I would die before he did.  
A part of me was happy that the pain would stop. Another part of me was saying _no, no, I don't want to die...  
_And as my body started to shut down, and my eyes rolled in their sockets, a _**third**_ part of me suddenly came up.  
And it said, _we're not going to die.  
_  
My body started changing. It just, well, almost seemed to melt, but no- it _shifted_. Shifted into a pure white, ghostly wolf. The wolf's body, however, was larger than normal, and the body shape was slightly different. The legs were thin but powerful, with sharp claws protruding from four toes on each paw. A small spike, about the size of a kunai knife's blade, jutted out of it's elbows. It had three sharp spikes lining it's rump, a sleek tail, and large, triangular ears lined with fur. It had a mohawk-like mane of fur coming from the back of it's head to halfway down it's back, and finally, large teeth.  
Kisame dropped it in surprise.  
The others' eyes' widened.  
It landed battle-ready, snarling dangerously.  
Kisame hesitated.  
That was it. The dragonic wolf leaped, but Kisame brought Samehada forward to block it's charge.  
The wolf tilted it's body, and it went past Kisame completely, landed, turned and leaped again.  
Kisame turned, swinging his sword towards it as he did.  
The wolf would have been clubbed by it, but it threw it's lower body up, and the force of that pulled it up over the sword. It fell perfectly onto Kisame's shoulders, digging it's claws in as it's fangs swooped down to fatally bite his neck.  
Kisame jerked his head to the left, and the dragonwolf narrowly missed. However, pushing forward with such force, it's body flipped over Kisame's head, and it landed on the ground on it's back.  
"So this is what you were referring to, Kisame." Zetsu said.  
"Mm," Deidara added.  
The dragonwolf- me- leaped at Kisame, who once again held his sword horizontally in front of him to block.  
The dragonwolf, instead of moving, kept going.  
It's front paws hit the sword, it's back paws came behind it, and it leaped, paws bloody, at Kisame's head.  
It's fangs flashed as it sailed by.  
And it landed and planted it's front paws in the ground, enabling it to pivot around to face Kisame.  
Kisame had a gaping wound below his eye, going jaggedly down his cheek from where the dragonwolf's fangs sliced it. A stream of blood started coming down.  
The dragonwolf itself had it's share of wounds. Blood dribbled down it's lower jaw, both mine and Kisame's. Some of its ribs were still broken, and it was really thin and bruised. It was like me in dragonwolf form, exactly.  
No healing, no regeneration.  
It was me.  
I was conscious of what was happening, but I wasn't in control. And glad somewhat, too.  
Kisame growled.  
The dragonwolf growled _much_ more intimidating-ly.  
We both tensed.  
Bristling, the dragonwolf released the spring-tension in it's muscles-  
And froze.  
It- we- couldn't move.  
And a new voice this time drifted into the clearing.  
"This is interesting."

The dragonwolf had been paralyzed by Itachi.  
"How long were you here?" Deidara asked.  
"Since the girl stabbed Kisame."  
Itachi looked back at the dragonwolf, Sharingan blaring in his eyes. Suddenly, they intensified.  
The wolf staggered, then fell. Slowly, it's form melted away to reveal me once again.  
I didn't think I could take it.  
Not only did I have the previous wounds and tiredness from before, but becoming the wolf _drained_ me, and my hands and feet were absent of most skin.  
I was a bloody mess (excuse the pun).  
Despite those factors, I started to get to my feet. You see, I was very confused, and had no idea how to react to having just transformed into a dragonwolf.  
I stood there, bleeding and blinking as if something was going to happen.  
"Now I see why you brought them, Kisame," Zetsu said. "It completely knows it's limits, and all of it's capable taijutsu. I sensed the ability for ninjutsu and genjutsu as well. But as you noticed, it didn't heal when it transformed, and when it shifted back, this girl acquired it's wounds. Meaning-"  
"That what happens to the girl, happens to the wolf, and vice versa." Deidara finished.  
"And if the girl became stronger, the wolf would too. But so what? It's not like a tailed demon." Tobi shrugged.  
"But it's a demon," Zetsu said, still using the same tone as ever. "It started out knowing complete taijutsu, without even the girl knowing, most likely, how to walk on water. Also, it was fighting in the girl's conditions." He paused. "With training, it could become very powerful."  
"So you're agreeing with me that she should be taken to the leader?" Kisame asked.  
"Hai."  
Kisame looked at Itachi. "What were our orders?"  
Itachi went on how Deidara and Tobi were to go on a mission, and Kisame and Zetsu were to each go on their own.  
"What about you?" Kisame asked.  
"He gave me no orders."  
Even in my blank state, my heart dropped.  
"So it's settled. Itachi takes the girl to the leader for training, we each go on our seperate missions." Tobi exclaimed... rather cheerfully.  
"But have you noticed we have to cross a lake-" Deidara started-  
My ears perked up-  
"To get there? A big lake. And we have nearby coordinates. The leader must want us back quickly.  
"So we're all crossing the water?" Tobi groaned.  
"Apparently."  
And that's when the first journey began.

They had to get a boat.  
It was a rental- large enough to hold five people.  
It was a sailboat- it had a cockpit, an opened up to the deck below. Then, on the front, there was a window accessible from the deck that you could open and go out onto the front. Sails on top. Simple, but enough.  
We were on the dock were the boat was.  
I normally liked docks.  
I didn't like this one.  
Perhaps it was just the situation, but the cold, black water surrounding me completely made me nervous.  
Hanetora hadn't moved since I escaped Orochimaru.  
I was on the edge of the dock, my feet dangling off the edge. Hanetora lay still next to me, his head in my lap.

Sighing, I blinked slowly.  
Hanetora's eyes suddenly flew open.  
I started, but then scooted back so he could get a footing. "Hanetora! You're alright! you-"  
He snarled, and I saw sharp, pointed tiger canines instead of human ones. "Hanetora?" I said with uncertainty as he pushed himself to his feet.  
Then, he waved his arm horizontally, and I was hit by some invisible force. I bounced once, then rolled on the rough surface of dock, getting scraped a bit. I nearly rolled off, but grabbed at the dock just in time.  
I looked up. He was walking towards me, fangs bared.  
"Hanetora, stop!" I shouted.  
He held up his hand as he walked, and claws grew from his nails. They grew larger, and sharper, and then merged together to become this blade-like sword. It, along with the rest of his arm, burst into flame.  
_"...the end result is that the human gains great power, but in return, loses his mind..."_  
"Hanetora," I whimpered, tears streaming down my face, because here was his body- but he wasn't there. It was him, in a way, and it wasn't.  
I started scrambling backwards as he kept walking, his eyes paler than they used to be, the eyes of a predator. Oh, god, what had they done to him?  
I didn't have any weapons. I didn't know how to draw out the dragonwolf.  
I kept on scrambling back.  
Suddenly, he broke into an impossibly fast run.  
I screamed, "Hanetora!" in fear and confusion and loss and sorrow and a million other things I couldn't put name to at the moment.  
Hanetora pulled his blade-arm backwards, planted his foot, and thrust forward, aiming for my head.

In a span of milliseconds, Itachi appeared in a flash of black, his robes flying outwards as he skidded to a stop in front of me, blocked the blade with a kunai, and said, "Mangekyou Sharingan!"  
And before Hanetora could use a ninjutsu, he crumpled to the ground.  
I was just staring, facing the back of Itachi's robes.  
He turned around and looked at me, eyes back to normal. And he said, "Pity."  
Now, I was still in a state of shock. But I managed to utter, "What?"  
"It's a pity we can't use him."  
"What?" Again, small and confused voice. "Why?"  
"He's strong, but not any stronger than one of us. And since we can't train him in this condition..." Itachi said, but then stopped.  
I watched as he stepped forward and picked Hanetora up, slinging him over his shoulder. And I slowly followed as he walked to the edge of the dock.  
"What do you mean?" I said, already knowing the truth. "You're just saying things."  
Itachi didn't even turn around.  
We were at the edge. The other four came over. They knew what was happening.  
Itachi held Hanetora by the collar and drew a kunai.

I was staring, my body numb, my eyes wide. I knew Hanetora was technically dead, but I never accepted it. This was confirming it.  
I could only watch as the blade flashed, slitting my best friend's throat.  
There was a spurt of blood, some of which specked my face. I was still frozen, feeling like I had ice in my veins.  
Itachi held Hanetora over the dock, so the blood gushed into the water, turning it an ugly color.  
A minute of cold, hard truth passed.  
And he was gone, his body pale, his once-cheerful eyes glazed over and _gone_.  
Hanetora was dead.  
Itachi tossed his corpse into the water.  
"No!" I cried out, trying to jump into the water, for a few reasons.  
Hanetora was dead. I wasn't ready for that. Not only that, I couldn't stand to see him drift like that so lifelessly, so cruel a death, into the water.  
And the last reason... I hoped to drown. I wanted to be in there and dead, with him, but just dead, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death. The Akatsuki was gonna use me as a weapon to start wars along with the other tailed beasts, and I was going to have to kill people, and suffer.  
I tried so hard to fall in with Hanetora.  
But Itachi caught my wrist, which didn't enable me to step off.  
Tears streamed and I screamed and yelled and pulled against his ironlike grip, trying to get to the water.  
The brackish waters I once feared, and still did, seemed like the only escape.  
"No!" I shouted, because I had lost, I had failed, all my attempts ended up useless.  
I didn't stop, though; I forced myself to think of horseback riding classes, where you had to be vigilant to get the horse to do what you wanted.  
My voice gave out. I kept on pulling, holding my other arm out to Hanetora, who was now drifting away...  
No. The water... Hanetora... Only option!  
Still holding my hand out to him, I suddenly brought all the chakra I had into my restrained arm, and pulled.  
Itachi barely budged, but he sure felt it, and was getting annoyed.  
His fingers tightened over my wrist, harder, harder, until I stopped trying to pull, my knees slightly buckled.  
"Please stop," I whimpered, tears streaming down my face. "Please stop..."  
His fingers kept tightening. I wanted to scream from the pain. Oh god, my wrist was gonna snap...  
"Stop! Not like Sasuke!" I shrieked.  
Itachi let go in surprise (it didn't show, however) and just watched me with his pure black eyes as I rubbed my wrist and stood up fully.  
I tried to take a step forward, and suddenly everything was fading in and out, black, white and gray, upside down and then normal again...  
I staggered, swayed, and fell. I passed out before I hit the dock.

I was in a weird place.  
It was completely white everywhere, but occasionally, like lightning in the sky, a rainbowish jagged bolt would flash, then disappear.  
"Where am I?" I called out, and my voice echoed.  
_'Where am I?'  
'Where am I?'  
'Where am I?'  
_"You're in the place I call home."  
I blinked. In front of me was the dragonwolf.  
"Inside you," it finished.  
"What happened to my body?"

The dragonwolf laughed, it's teeth flashing. "In your soul."  
"Oh. What's your name?"  
"I never had a name, but you can just call me Drauru. Hogosha Drauru."  
"You're a dragonwolf?"  
"How'd you know?"  
I blinked. How _did_ I know?  
"I'm not really sure. What about Hanetora? He was described as a winged big cat." I waited for the flash of sorrow, the tears, but no, nothing. In my soul, I was free of everything.  
"Your friend Hanetora was a hawk tiger."  
I wasn't sure about Drauru. He had a rough, devlish kind of way of speaking, and his voice was gravely.  
"Can you tell me what's going on, Drauru?" I asked the dragonwolf, knowing it was a male suddenly.  
"My knowledge is limited."  
"Where'd you come from? What are you?" I looked into his black eyes, hoping I didn't offend him.  
"I'm a demon."

"I was created when the fabric of space was disturbed. When you travelled through dimensions, you stopped very briefly in empty space- not the kind of space you know. A different kind. And when your friend and you did, we were created. The laws of space couldn't just allow us to just _be_ there. So when you started to go into the other dimensions, we were put into you, so we could be removed from space."  
I stared, awestruck.  
"Now _how_ you travelled had to do with that device you touched- it belongs to a greater being. There's always one in every dimension, in case things have to be done fast. But why it was in the open like that-" Drauru shook his head.  
"I want to know more about you- demons?"  
"Demon. I am the only one left now. The hawk tiger died with Hanetora."  
I understood a little- this was the third subconscious that surfaced when I was about to die.  
"That's right," Drauru grinned a fang-filled grin.  
"You can hear my thoughts?"  
"Yes, because unlike the tailed beasts, I am not merely _inside_ you- you are not merely a vessel, either. We are one.  
"And about us demons, I know that all of our kind have an emotional link with each other. We can subconsciously feel what the other is feeling. For instance, when one is in peril..."  
I nodded, knowing what he meant. Drauru was talking about when the snake bit my shoulder, and Hanetora just _woke up_ suddenly.  
"And as you heard, we- I- am deeply connected with you. I grow as you grow, however, I gain power much more quickly." I am not made from chakra, nor do I have large amounts. It is a fifth element, in a way- it has it's powers, just like fire, water, earth, and air. Meaning, unlike others, you don't have a certain element type- you have the fifth."  
"What's that?"  
"It's Seirei- Spirit."  
I started to feel like crap, and I knew, suddenly, that I was waking up. "Drauru, I don't want to wake up." I said as I felt the pain bubbling back to life.  
"Unfortunately, for our sakes, you must."  
"Why?"  
He looked straight at me seriously. "If you don't, you'll become an empty shell like Hanetora. And I won't let that happen. Like all other creatures, I have the will to live and natural instinct. So go."  
There was no arguing. He snarled fiercely, and spooked, I stumbled back into reality.

Pain.  
My shoulder, my ribs, my head, my back, my hands, my feet, my wrist, and my heart.  
Not necessarily in that order.  
"Mfm..." I said thoughtfully as I opened my eyes.  
Tobi was kneeling over me, holding a bloody cloth. "Good morning."  
I tried to sit up.  
Pain shot through my body, and I gasped.  
My body did not want to get up.  
"Yeah, Itachi told me the damage. Y'wanna hear?"  
"Mfm." I mumbled again.  
I was in the deck of the boat. Kisame, Zetsu and Itachi were in the cockpit- the boat automatically went forward, but needed to be steered. Deidara was on the bench of the deck- there were two cushioned benches on either side, enough to hold a few people, and a table in-between.  
I was on the other bench, and Tobi was kneeling over me.  
"Okay, so he said that the major wounds are the broken ribs, fractured wrist, wounded arms, and snake bite-"  
"How'd he know?" I said with some difficulty- the fatigues were starting to take their toll.  
"I dunno, ask him. Anyways, yeah, so besides that, there are also various bruises and cuts- that's the minor damage. And finally, there is heavy strain physically, mentally, and emotionally, lack of food and water for three days, and- and- that's it."  
"How'd he know about the physical, mental and emotional strain? It's not too easy to tell."  
"I dunno, ask him."  
I tried to get up again. My body finally agreed with me, however, as soon as I was sitting, my stomach ached terribly.  
I doubled over and clutched it, wincing, waiting for the pain to go away. It was really that bad.  
I looked at my hands, which were wrapped in bandages, along with my arms.  
Tobi saw me looking. "Oh, and the cuts on your feet from Samehada aren't too bad, so you can walk, at least."  
I sighed. My shoulder throbbed. I wished I had more clothes, even though the shirt fell below my thighs (Hanetora wore a big, baggy shirt that day, luckily for me).  
Tobi sat next to me, so I dully asked him, "How far are we?"  
"I think we have, what, thirty miles."  
"You've got to be kidding." I said, holding my head. "That'll take a few days by sail- and that's if we have good wind all the way."  
"Oh." Tobi looked down. "Well, that sucks- wait, how do you know?"  
"I know a bit about sailing- I went on quite a few trips with a friend of mine, who's family sails."  
I wanted to be outside. I wasn't seasick, but I wanted to feel air on my face on the front of the boat. Something familiar (I had done it before, you know, on _Earth_.), something _normal_.  
Unfortunately, to go from the back would be to have to pass by Zetsu- I didn't want to do that- Kisame- I _really_ didn't want to do that (especially not after yesterday)- and Itachi- I _**really**_ didn't want to do that. Why?  
Itachi's scary.  
Not that the others aren't scary. He's just **really** scary.  
I climbed up onto the table (everything is connected to the boat, just in case you didn't know) and opened the window. Using mostly my legs, because it would have hurt way to much to even think about using my arm muscles, I popped myself up onto the front of the boat. I closed the window behind me, then scooted up to the very front. I put my arms carefully over the rail, dangled my legs over the edge of the boat, and looked ahead, wondering what was going to become of me.  
After a few hours (you can literally gaze and daydream the hours away on a boat), Itachi came up to the front.  
Actually, I never really heard him, I just happened to turn and there he was, (I jumped) leaning over the side of the boat.  
He was on the opposite side, but the reality was that it wasn't so far apart, and it made me really nervous. Still, I decided I had nothing to lose in asking him (though it took a _lot_ of guts to do so):  
"How did you know?" My voice was a soft whisper, barely audible. "How did you know what strain I was under?"  
Itachi was silent, and I thought he didn't hear me. I gave up and kept staring out over the lake.  
"Some of it was obvious." His smooth, cold voice being suddenly there made goose bumps run along my spine. "I heard the story. You are in a completely different world with no family, your closest and only friend here lost his mind, and then was killed. You were beaten up quite a bit. And things probably happened really fast, with not enough time to sort them out and get used to them. There has to be some emotional and mental strain. As for physical, I could tell by the way you moved that you were in pain."  
I looked at him, no idea why he was even up here.  
_Guess what, you traitorous bastard, I'm still in a hell of a lot of pain. _I thought._  
_He suddenly turned around, his eyes looking directly into mine. "...What did you call me?"  
I froze. No, no... he couldn't read minds... this wasn't right...  
_A traitorous bastard. _"N-n-nothing."  
He kept staring down at me. I thought he was going to do something, but then he turned back and proceeded to stare at the horizon.  
And then, I got it.  
_He's seasick!  
_I laughed in my head- but only in my head, mind you. Yeah- no. Of all things I was trying to avoid, it was getting tortured endlessly with the Mangekyou Sharingan. But, wait, he wouldn't waste that much chakra, would he? It was consuming.  
"Itachi?"

"How long does it take you to recover after using Tsukiyomi?"  
He turned around and looked at me again. He was silent for a moment.  
"You are afraid of it."  
I mentally set my teeth and forced myself to continue. "How long?"  
"Twenty four hours. How did you know there was a limit?"  
I searched my brain real quick. "Well, you mentioned it after you tortured Kakashi for three days-" I clamped my hand over my mouth. Letting it fall slowly, and shaking, I slowly looked up.  
There were Sharingan in Itachi's eyes.  
"How did you know that?"  
I was wasn't able to talk at the moment. I wanted to run away, to get back to the deck, to get _somewhere_ away from him.  
He stepped towards me, his eyes boring into mine. It wasn't a paralyzation jutsu, but he knew how to manipulate me- just staring rendered me incapable of speech.  
"How?" He hissed dangerously.  
I just sat ther, backing myself up against the rail, staring open-mouthed at him.  
"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

I opened my eyes.  
I was standing in a red place. Completely red. I myself was just white and black, the clouds were a darkish gray, and the moon was a dark beige.  
I was in the Tsukiyomi illusion- Itachi's world.  
I blinked, and after I did, I was suddenly against a post, my arms wrapped around and tied behind it at the wrists with some sort of rope.  
It was one of my worst nightmares- I couldn't see behind me, and I had no arms from which to defend myself, or anything like that.  
It was one of the worst things for me.  
I shuddered and close my eyes. "I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home..."  
I opened my eyes to tears, and looked up. Itachi was standing about five feet away.  
"Is this interrogation?" I whispered, wishing I could hide the tears in my sleeve.  
"Why are you crying?" Itachi asked in his usual calm, steely tone.  
"You probably know." I bit my lip.  
"There can be a lot of reasons in your case."  
"I'm crying because I'm scared. I want to wake up from this bad, bad nightmare."  
"Scared?"  
"Yes, especially with my arms tied like this. My only way to defend myself is gone, I feel open. My instincts are screaming right now."  
He was quiet- staring.  
"Please," I said, looking at the floor. "Please, don't hurt me. I'll tell you everything."  
More tears came down.  
Itachi was still silent.  
"I know it sounds pathetic, but- I- I don't want to be hurt anymore!" I yelled, tears flying off of my face as I shook my head. "I can't take it anymore!"  
There was a longer silence.  
"Then you will answer everything?" Itachi said.  
I calmed down a bit, not believing it. Just staring at the floor.  
The red floor.  
"Where does your story really start, and what do you know?'  
So I told him.  
Everything.

I didn't think Itachi would believe me.  
He did.  
I didn't think he'd let me go just like that.  
He did.  
I didn't know why, either. But I told him about the manga/anime concept, and my theory that whenever a valid story or just plain life is created, a dimension is created for it.  
He believed me.  
I also told him everything Drauru told me.  
I told him everything up until now, including escaping Orochimaru's castle.  
And I still quoted him.  
Which gave him a look of surprise, for once.  
So I was back on the boat, unharmed. I watch the lakewater flow idly by, glad I didn't tell Itachi how I felt at all. If I told him my emotions, then I would possibly be empty of anything to myself. And if that happened, I wouldn't survive.  
Would I? 


	3. DO INTEND TO COMPLETELY REWRITE IT SO

**Author's Note: **Things start to get weird in this chapter. What was I thinking? XD Enjoy.

_**Three**_

The days came and went by. I absolutely refused to eat or drink anything- I was paranoid that it would be poisoned. Why, I didn't know, they weren't going to kill me, but what if Kisame put something in it that caused horrendous pain as revenge? Or what if they wanted to test the effects of something on my body?  
I was sitting on the bench one day, swaying slightly.  
"How are you?" Tobi asked randomly.  
"I'm suffering from heat exhaustion due to dehydration, but I'm fine."  
"Ooh- what's that like?"  
"It sucks. My head is swimming, I can't move my muscles right, meaning I have to depend on my arms, which hurt to move. There's always nausea and dizziness present. I constantly feel like I'm going to faint. Other than that, though, I'm fine."  
Tobi didn't answer.  
The next day, while I was on the front of the boat alone, clutching my stomach as it roiled with pain, Itachi came up to the front again, obviously to address the issue of me not consuming anything.  
"Do you know what happens when you don't eat for two weeks?" He said calmly.  
"Your stomach starts to digest itself." I answered.  
Itachi was silent. Then... "A week has gone by. If you don't eat soon, we'll have to force it."  
"I'll make myself puke on your lovely robes."  
"We'll tie your hands behind your back."  
I had no reply to this, so with a smirk, Itachi went back down.  
There was one night, where only Zetsu was steering, and Itachi was there too, but I took the chance to sit in the cockpit anyway.  
I heard a fuss coming from the deck.  
Tobi, Deidara and Kisame were playing some sort of card game.  
My eyes squinted, then widened, and I went down into the deck.  
"Hey," I said, more so addressing Tobi than anyone else.  
On my right, Deidara sat. On my left, Tobi, then Kisame.  
"Are you possibly playing spades?"  
My heart started beating a little faster when all three- well, two and a half- pairs of eyes were looking at me.  
Tobi nodded. "Yeah, and three person spades-"  
"Sucks," Deidara finished.  
"Well... uh..." How could I do this? I mean, this was the Akatsuki here!  
But they always said that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...  
"I could join in."

Kisame snorted. "A brat like you wouldn't be any challenge."  
I gathered up my courage. "Let's see you beat me, then?"  
The other two were silent in slight awe that I was challenging him.  
"I'll team up with Tobi, since I'll be sitting across from him anyway." I added.  
"Fine." Kisame scoffed.  
They reset, with Deidara shuffling, so I was first to bid.  
I looked at my line... seven spades- holy crap! That was more than half of the total. I had the ace, queen, and general medium numbers. I also only had one club- the diamonds and hearts were medium.  
I bid five. Kisame laughed at my cockiness and bid three. Tobi followed with three, and Deidara with two.  
I quickly did the math as I rearranged cards by suit in my hand.  
I had half the spades, so the remaining six would be divided up so each had two. Deidara probably had one, Tobi two, and Kisame three, judging by their bids. Kisame was probably counting on at least two aces in his hand, meaning Tobi probably had either one or two.  
I had to play the first card.  
The game is somewhat complicated, but basically, if we had non-spade aces, we wanted to use them as soon as possible.  
I played a low diamond.  
Kisame also put a low one in, Tobi took it with the ace (I knew it!) and Deidara just put a low one.  
Tobi took the trick, (just a game term) so he started the next one by playing the queen of diamonds. Deidara took it with the King, however, so Kisame and I just followed up with low ones.  
Deidara started off with the king of clubs (once again, I knew it!)- which meant that he had the ace.  
Indeed, the following round, he played the ace, so I put a high spade- a nine- on there, to make Kisame think I only had a few.  
It was getting a bit more intense as more rounds passed. Especially when they had four and we had six- two tricks left in the game.  
I was going first, so I led with the queen of spades, putting on a confident face, like I had counted on it to take a trick.  
Kisame smirked. "You got a bit too cocky." He smirked, then played the ace.  
My face fell.  
Tobi and Deidara each played their only spade.  
Last one. If they took this, we lost.  
Kisame went first. They each put down their last cards- Kisame smirking as he thought he had it with the jack of spades.  
"We lost," Tobi sniffled.  
I looked defeated... Then I played the king.  
"We won!" Tobi shouted.  
Kisame's jaw dropped.  
Deidara just scowled and announced that he was going to sleep.  
"You see, Kisame," I said as he still had his jaw dropped, "By playing the queen, I tricked you into using your ace, so the way was clear for my king."  
Tobi laughed as he started gathering up the cards.  
Kisame just grumbled something about going to sleep too and went to the empty space under the cockpit.  
There were five places to sleep- under the cockpit, in the bow, and on each couch. Kisame slept under the cockpit, because he was the biggest. I had one of the couches, Deidara had the other. Itachi slept in the bow, Tobi slept on the floor, and no one was really sure about Zetsu. He probably took watch at night, and I think he slept during the day inside of the venus flytrap thing.  
So night came. We slept. And all the while, I was thinking about how I used to use the same strategy at home when we played cards on the sailboat.  
And a single tear trickled down my eye as I slowly fell into dark dreams.

I was walking in the white place.  
Was I in my soul again?  
I blinked. Ahead of me was a stripe-less tiger, with big, feathery wings folded on it's back.  
"Hanetora!" I shouted, but no sound came out. "Hanetora!" Again, no sound.  
I started running. My white paws flashed ahead of me, my tongue lolling out over my fangs as I loped.  
Hanetora stared at me.  
I started running, as if he would fade away. "Hanetora?" No sound.  
He stared so hard, it seemed like he was staring through me.  
I was almost at him. Almost...  
I kept on running, meaning to bash into him playfully. And suddenly, right as I was about to make contact, I realized he was staring not at me- but forward. Just forward, seeing nothing.  
I shouted his name again, but no sound came out. And then I ran right _through_ him.  
And there was a big, gaping hole behind him suddenly, and I was falling, falling, falling, tumbling through the air. It got so dark and cold so quickly that I didn't have anytime to prepare for it. I was frozen through.  
And then I hit the bottom, and shattered into a million pieces.

I woke up screaming.  
My scream, however, was muffled by a hand across my mouth...?  
Itachi.  
Sweat was running down my forehead, and I noticed, suddenly, that it was mixing with tears.  
That dream was so vivid, so real...  
So after Itachi removed his hand from my mouth, I silently walked over to the cockpit, climbed up, walked along the top of the boat, and reached the bow- the front. And then, sitting there by myself, with the stars and a full moon above me, I cried.

I little while later, I realized Itachi had been standing behind me for quite some time.  
I whirled around.  
He was there.  
I jumped, then scooted backwards towards the front of the boat more.  
To get further from him.  
"How did you know I would wake up screaming?" I said, my voice shaky as I wiped my tears on my sleeve.  
He didn't answer.  
"What do you want?" My voice rose slightly, then more tears and sweat as I was shaking with more than just sorrow- now I had anger and fear.  
Fear, because he stared at me with those eyes.  
"I wonder what your dream meant?" He mused as he sat down.  
Great. I was trapped. I was too far in the front, and I couldn't get back without stepping over him.  
"I know what it means." I wiped the salty waters off of my face, then turned- I couldn't look at him when he was so close. I stared ahead.  
"The white place- that was like my soul. Hanetora was the tiger. I couldn't talk because he couldn't hear me- I was in the dragonwolf form, and started running. Running in that form meant that I wanted to be strong, but I didn't want to be here. It meant I wanted to leave. And then, I was running towards a source of comfort- my desires. Hanetora could never see me, therefore, I was invisible in his eyes, and I passed right through him. That was like the passing of his spirit that I couldn't handle- his death. The hole represented the new world I was suddenly flung into, and getting cold and dark too quickly was like all these things being thrown at me too quickly. Freezing meant that I couldn't handle it. Shattering-" I turned and looked Itachi in the eye. "Means that I'm going to break under it all."  
I did not realize how much sense I made when I analyzed that dream.  
Itachi, as usual, was silent for a while. But then, he spoke. "Don't let yourself freeze."  
He walked back down to the deck.  
I looked back up at the stars, and did the exact opposite of what he said- I stayed out there for the rest of the night.

Morning added me trying not to shiver whenever Itachi walked by.  
It was pretty dull- nothing was going on. Tobi was still snoring away on the floor.  
I went back up to the front of the boat again. I was glad it was there- not only did it help me think, and was relaxing, but it also was the farthest away from everyone else, everyone that I was afraid of.  
I felt the effects of my journey taking their toll. Wounded, tired, no food or water, and now, just to top the icing on the cake, I was freezing.  
I shivered, hoping Itachi was talking to Kisame or something. And not looking this way.  
My stomach, as it had been doing for the past week, churned painfully.  
My instincts were going nuts on me. They wanted me to eat something- badly.  
I knew I was gonna die.  
Well shit, let it happen!  
Bring it on, death. I'm coming to join your ranks, raise to the position right below you, then kick your-  
I heard a footstep behind me, and whirled around to see Itachi again.  
"You're going to die," he said simply as I stood up to look at him, for once- but it wasn't an easy thing to make myself do. And I know he sensed my fear of him.  
"So kill me," I whispered.  
I noticed, suddenly, that his eyes were red.  
"Mangekyou Sharingan!"  
Darkness.

I opened my eyes- and gasped. I was sitting on the floor in the Tsukuyomi illusion.  
And all around me were plates full of food.  
"I won't fall for this," I shouted out loud into empty space, knowing Itachi would hear me.  
I looked at the food, and my mouth started seriously watering.  
So I decided to explain to my body what was going on, convince myself I wasn't seeing this.  
"Your mouth watering is actually just a term used which means it's filling with saliva. When you're thinking about food sometimes while you're hungry, your body gets ready for digestion by making your mouth fill with saliva. The end."  
I swear my eyes bulged as I looked around at it all.  
"It's an illusion, the food's not real." I said out loud again.  
I thought I would go mad. Swallowing the spit, I reached out carefully to a nearby slice of cake, giving it a tentative poke.  
Oh, it _felt_ real, alright.  
I snatched my hand back so I wouldn't' grab at it.  
"Oh, and next you'll make a cat made out of cheese start walking around," I said sarcastically.  
I heard a cat meow off in the distance.  
"That's not funny!"  
I sighed, crossing my arms.  
"I'm not eating it. You made it up, it probably tastes like shit."  
I was quivering, trying to do anything to resist.  
I went from quivering to shaking.  
Bringing my hand up to my face, I bit into it, _hard_. Oh god, I was gonna go insane.  
I was hoping at first that the pain would snap me out of it, but I knew Tsukuyomi was real.  
I laughed as I pulled my hand away, blood dribbling down my chin. I tasted it in my mouth.  
"Does that taste good enough for you?" I shouted, laughing. "Does it?!" My laughter turned into anger.  
"Huh. Itachi? Does it taste good? Can you taste my pain?" And I was laughing again, an empty, hollow sort of laugh...

I jumped.  
Like that feeling you get when you wake up from being half-asleep, and your entire system kind of jumps.  
That was it.  
I was back on the boat now, looking at Itachi.  
I glanced at my hand- no blood.  
"W-was that me?" I asked, stuttering.  
He nodded slowly.  
I was shaken. My eyes were still wide, and I was quivering.  
I had nearly gone mad. If Itachi hadn't broken the illusion...  
"I want to go home," I whispered to myself, and myself seemed to say, "Hold on a little bit longer."  
And I suddenly remembered my promise to Hanetora.  
"Stay strong- don't ever give up."  
Itachi's gaze seemed to intensify suddenly as I spoke the words.  
"No matter what happens, I want you to live." I looked at Itachi. "That's what he said to me. And I promised Hanetora that I wouldn't fail him."  
I looked at the ground. "Yet my own goal is to die."  
"Is it really?" Itachi said, looking me in the eye, which was making me really uncomfortable.  
But it made me think.  
"No. I'm not ready to die. I'm afraid to die at this age, actually."  
I clutched my head, my fingers grabbing at my hair in upsetment. "After we promised that- he told me- he told me-"  
I shut my eyes, and with all of my will, forced the tears back down. "I'm going to go to bed," I said, wanting an excuse to be out of there, out of his eyesight.  
"Go ahead." He said calmly.  
I paused. He was blocking the way, and didn't seem intent on moving.  
But I'd have to pass really close to him to get to the deck.  
I looked at his eyes. They were watching me, waiting to see what I'd do next.  
And I thought, what would Hanetora do?  
_Probably start a fight._  
I sighed. I wasn't Hanetora.  
And starving myself was not a way to escape from Akatsuki.  
"I'll eat," I said, and Itachi smirked, holding out a rice ball.  
Rice expands once in your stomach, filling you quickly. Smart.  
I gave him a disgusted look at how prepared he was, and took it, muttering, "I hope it goes stale next time from you having to wait so long."  
I felt like a failure as I ate. I knew that he had won our little battle, and it was pissing me off.  
I gulped down a bite. "You've won the battle, but not the war." I was glaring at him, but he just smirked again and walked off.  
I asked for seconds.

We still had a couple of days left, in which I was trying to decide whether that was good or bad. Bad, because it meant I would be spending long, boring hours doing nothing. Good, because there was still a lot of time before I ended up at Akatsuki's headquarters, wherever they were.  
I tried to shove that thought out of my mind. I didn't need to worry about that.  
I slept a lot, knowing my body would need the time to heal. Also, didn't your brain sort events of the day and such while you slept?  
I figured that would help also, seeing as I had more than a few things to figure out.  
Not just past events, but I was still having trouble getting over Hanetora's death. I had never felt pain like this before- it was different. Devastating. How could I describe it? It literally felt like your heart was bleeding. And I wanted to cry and scream, but I couldn't, which only made it worse.  
Also, I had to figure out how to escape, which I had no idea how I would do.  
As I sat on the bow of the boat, my feet dangling off the edge, I was trying to figure it out.  
_The Akatsuki wants demons so they can start wars as a part of their domination plan._ I thought. That meant they wouldn't want to lose me- according to Drauru, we could eventually surpass the tailed beasts, if we didn't hold back. He didn't mean we had to, he was just saying that it was possible. The tailed beasts were powerful, but they had a limit to their power- unlike them, we had unlimited potential.  
_Why?_ I had asked him. and he replied, _Because unlike them, I need to stay with you to survive. and because you're a human, and not just some creature, you never have a limit to what you can learn. Therefore, neither can I._  
I was frustrated as I tried to figure out a route to escape. I mean, I was surrounded on all sides by water!  
Whoah. Stop. Hold on. That was it!  
I could purposely fall into the water. I could be able to swim downwards, no matter how much it scared me.  
I could drown.  
I looked down at the icy, murky lake water. It was nearly impossible to see in- one of the factors that normally scared me, but this time would be my advantage.  
I turned, looking around the boat. Only Zetsu and Itachi were in the cockpit, everyone else was in the deck.  
Perfect. It would take Kisame a while to use a water jutsu to push me back- I'd be gone by then.  
If that meant death, that was fine with me also.  
I looked down at the water again.  
_Hogosha Drauru, give me courage,_ I thought, then let myself fall overboard into the black depths.

I was immediately surrounded by a cold blast of water, but I knew I'd get used to it later. I couldn't hear much from underwater, but I could guess what was going on.  
The wind was good- the boat would get further and further each cluttered second.  
I turned and kicked downwards- Drauru had heard my prayer, and had blocked off my fear of swimming in lake water.

Normally, I only would if my friends were with me, giving me something else to think about. If my mind wandered and wondered what could be below me, however, I would freak out.  
Luckily, Drauru wanted freedom as much as I did, not to be just some tool- what kind of life was that? We both wanted to live.  
I gained confidence as I swam. I was still alone in those waters, but I wasn't afraid-  
Of the water itself. A shark, however-  
There are no sharks in lake water. So why this one was swimming towards me, I had no idea.  
I freaked out.  
I thrashed my way to the surface, blind fear gripping my mind. This was always the exact reason I hated swimming in lake water- I didn't know what was there.  
The sudden surge had made Drauru lose concentration, and all the fears suddenly came back, which was nearly maddening. I was a spooked little foal without a mother, and this was the predator coming to finish me off.  
I had to scream, so I did, losing air. But then I tried to suck air back in, and just got water. My body instantly started coughing, which only made me lose the rest of the air. My lungs were rapidly filling with water. And all the while, thrashing blindly, not knowing which way was up anymore, I just had one hope- that the water would kill me before the shark did. That was my last hope as I gave a final kick towards nowhere, and then floated, waiting to die.  
The shark came at me. I wasn't dead, for some cruel fated reason. But instead of closing its teeth on me, it went above me, and started pushing me down.  
At first, I thought it was just trying to further drown me- then I realized my sense of direction was messed up, and it was actually _below_ me pushing me _towards_ the surface.  
And it was swimming forward, fast.  
I glanced at the shark with difficulty- my brain was trying to shut down. But I realized that there _weren't_ any sharks in lake water.  
And as the shark came behind the boat, I knew it was Kisame's doing.  
I felt hands grabbing me by the collar and the back of the shirt. I was dimly aware of being pulled onto the cockpit of the boat, where everyone was looking down at me.  
I saw Kisame, and tried to tell him that I forgot about his shark jutsu- but I had no air to talk with, as my lungs were filled with water instead.  
That's right, I was dying. I figured I was conscious only because of Drauru struggling to keep our mind intact for as long as possible.  
I saw Itachi lift his foot, then slam his heel into my gut. An intense surge of pain hit me, but then-  
Water came out of my mouth.  
Itachi slammed his heel again into me, and more water came up.  
And again and again he tortuously did it, until I was on my hands and knees, coughing and sputtering, and finally I was able to breathe again.  
Blood was running down from the corners of my mouth from the punishment. I collapsed onto the floor of the cockpit, still coughing, my eyes shut tightly as I worked to get the final drops of water out of my system.  
And then I was just panting there, waiting for the pain to be over, waiting and wishing for it to stop, oh god, it hurt...

I woke up inside of the world of the Grasping Moon.  
I immediately knew where I was. Once again in Tsukiyomi.  
I blinked. In front of me, twenty feet away, was a post, where I was tied. I was looking at myself.  
And suddenly, Itachi was there, facing the other me. He drew a sword, ready to stab it into the tied Hisakata.  
And she screamed, but no sound came out.  
"Stop it, Itachi," I whispered, shaking. My voice worked, but the me about to get tortured wasn't able to scream.  
"Stop!" I yelled, and ran at him, wanting to knock the sword away.  
I ran straight through him, and through the post. turning around fearfully, I watched as Itachi stuck the sword into her.  
She screamed.  
And it came out through my mouth, as I felt the exact, same thing.  
I fell onto the ground, panting, moaning, it hurt too much, too much to bear.  
And then he stabbed her again, and again, I felt the pain. The me tied to the post was a voodoo doll, and I was the victim that felt it, but wasn't actually hurt.  
"No! No!" I screamed as he raised his sword again.  
And I felt it as it ripped through my flesh, causing the pain sensors to go ballistic as I writhed in agony.  
And then, it was over.

I knew the only reason Itachi stopped was so the mental damage wouldn't be too great.  
And I suddenly hoped that my wounds wouldn't recover, that I wouldn't become stronger, so they couldn't hurt me.  
But if that happened, training would be impossible, and I'd simply be killed.  
I was shivering on the floor of the cockpit from what I had just experienced.  
"Say you'll never do it again," I heard his voice come from above me.  
I didn't answer; I just kept on the floor, shivering pathetically.

And then, he grabbed the collar of my shirt, lifting me up to eye level.  
Then I was scared. I was so scared of Itachi, and being that close, his eyes glaring angrily into mine, was scaring me too much. I wanted to submit, to get it over with, to run to the other end of the boat and stay there forever.  
"Say you'll never do it again," he said dangerously.  
And even through all the fear, I couldn't. "I can't promise anything," I said, my voice small.  
He glared at me, but then dropped me. And I knew that true to my word, and true to Hanetora's, I would never stop trying to escape.  
One way or the other.

I was sitting idly on the bench in the deck one day, just thinking. And suddenly, something caught my eye, nestled between the cushions.  
I blinked, and reached for it.  
And when pulled it out, my jaw dropped.  
It was an Mp3.  
Hello.  
My initial reaction was shock. I simply did not believe it. Rubbing my forehead, I leaned back, closing my eyes.  
I suddenly was in my soul. Drauru must have brought me here.  
He was grinning.  
"What? What is it?" I asked, just floating there.  
"Do you like my little present?" he laughed.  
"Where did you get it? _How?!_"  
"Well, I was thinking, wondering about my powers here, and how I was created in space. I wondered if I could travel between worlds." He said, sitting. "So after thinking and trying different things, I eventually tried to use your thoughts and memories to get to your world. It worked. I was there, just there, in your room. And on your desk, I found it."  
I was staring at him.  
"Now let me explain. It's hard to describe... You could say I was in a paranormal state. But every item I looked at, I could see what it meant to you. I could connect to memories of using it and such. It as very odd. But that thing, that Mp3 as you had called it, seemed very important to you. So I tried to touch it, and suddenly, was jerked back into this world. But not before exploring."  
"Did you get into my older brother's room?" I asked excitedly.  
"I didn't go into any rooms besides yours- I just looked around. Why?"  
"He has a few weapons," I said, thinking. "If I could get one of those, it would cause so much more damage if I launched another surprise attack. I could kill them, Drauru. I could kill one of them."  
Drauru's tail swished from side to side as he thought. "What weapons are there?"  
I thought. "Two daggers- one bronze-colored and sharp, the other black and pretty useless for attack, but the blade's strong, so it'd make a good defense. There's a smaller knife in a case- it was my grandpa's from when he was in the military. It's not _too_ sharp, but if it hit well..."  
"What?" Drauru said.  
"It's pretty damn rusty and dirty, so I'm absolutely sure that infection would set in. Anyway, the last one is basically a large knife- it has a seven-inch blade- it's inside a white carved hilt. There's a cobra on it. Some kind of Egyptian thing, but it's the biggest."  
"Hm," Drauru said. "Doing so really drained my strength, but if I did again, which would you want me to get first?"  
I thought what would do the most damage if I stuck it in the heart. What would _reach_ the heart. "I'm debating between the bronze dagger and the cobra knife. The cobra knife is longer, but the dagger has a wider ranger. Actually, I think the dagger would be long enough. Get the dagger."  
"What does it look like?"  
"It's like a claw- it had three blades, two curved ones on either side, and a middle one. The middle one had a skull decoration on it, and the dagger itself has a black rubber grip for your palm."  
Drauru nodded. "There is one other thing you must know," he said. "I fear that traveling back and forth constantly will be meddling too much with the fabric of space. And if I pick up something, it may not be good. Since I'm tied to you, if will affect you as well. This may be fatal."  
I nodded. "Go one more time, then, and we will never do it again afterwards. Wait, can the effects be positive?"  
Drauru shrugged. "Possibly, but I'd rather not risk it."  
"Yeah." I thought for a while.  
"Are you sure you even want me to go again? Think about it. If you try to kill Itachi, it most likely won't work, since he's faster than anyone. I fear that no matter who you go after, another one will get you."  
"If I kill Kisame, he won't be able to use water jutsu."  
"Itachi will get you."  
"If I kill Itachi, Kisame will get me."  
Drauru thought, then grinned. "What if you kill Itachi in his sleep, then turn on Kisame? Deidara would be a possible threat, but he's not nearly as fast as Itachi. And Zetsu wouldn't be able to snag you with any sort of vegetation, since he'll have to connect through the boat to do that."  
"Now there's an idea." I smiled.  
"I'm not joking." Drauru looked at me seriously.  
There was a pause.  
"I will retrieve what I can right now." He said.  
"I thought you said your strength was drained."  
"It is, but I can make another trip. The only problem is, I'll have to rest for a few days, so you'll be on your own when you try to kill them."  
I thought. "I can't do it alone. We should be there in three days, so rest for twenty four hours, then get them. I'll attack the following night."  
"Keep yourself calm." Drauru said, looking at me. "If you get too nervous, they'll sense it."  
"If I listen to music, I won't get nervous, trust me."  
"All right. I have faith in you."  
"Does that mean we're friends?" I joked.  
"I'm a demon." He grinned, and I faded back into reality.

I looked at the Mp3 in my palm. How would I explain this?  
_Tell them what Drauru said._

Oh.  
I went up the step into the cockpit, then preceded to go up to the front of the boat, the Mp3 casually in my hand.  
I avoided the others' eyes as I made my way to the front of the boat, and sat down, waiting for Itachi to question it.  
"What is it?" He demanded calmly as he came forward.  
"You're predictable," I smirked.  
Hah! I won _that_ battle.  
"_What is it?_" He said darkly.  
"Music. It plays music."  
"Where did it come from?"  
"Drauru attempted to go into my home dimension, found it, saw that it was important to me, and brought it back." I explained the entire thing to him as Drauru had, except I made it sound like Drauru had to put serious effort into it.  
"He's afraid to mess up the fabric of time in a way that will kill me- like, he'll pick up something fatal, as I picked up him. Plus, he has to rest for a few days, so it's not gonna happen again."  
Itachi just watched me. He knew I was telling the truth, from the way I said it. But the Mp3 was probably something very alien...  
I swallowed my fear for the sake of entertaining myself and held it out. "Wanna try it?"  
He gave me a look without so much as glancing at it.  
"It's not a bomb, I promise." I said, trying not to laugh.  
"You don't keep promises very well," He replied coldly.  
"Suit yourself." I snickered, then put the earphones on. "Oh, by the way-" I said as he started to leave.  
He turned around and looked at me.  
"You won't believe how much these songs relate." I said, then started singing along to my Mp3.  
"I walk alone- think of home, memories of long ago, no one knows I lost, my soul long ago.  
"Lied too much- she said that she's had enough."  
Itachi was staring now. I think he thought I was making the song up so it would sound like him.  
"Am I too much? She said that she's had enough.  
"Standing on my own, remembering the on I left at home, forgetting about the life I used to know, forgetting about the one I left at home..."  
"You're making it up," Itachi said simply.  
"Listen to it." I started rewinding it back to the start.  
Itachi walked forward slowly.  
I stood up, holding out one of the earphones.  
This was probably the first and last time I'd ever see this.  
Itachi holding an earphone to his ears, his eyes widening slightly as he heard the lyrics to Three Days Grace.  
Of course, they had radio technology, and used earphones for communication and such. Of course, I don't think they had electric guitars...  
Itachi gave me back the earphone and started walking away.  
I laughed, put both earphones on, and started singing.  
"He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man..."

Drauru brought the blade.  
It was at night, when everyone else was asleep and I was getting ready to do what I needed to.  
He pulled me into my soul, told me _"Here,"_ and when I was back, I felt a buldge under the cushion.  
I took slow, quiet breaths, keeping myself calm. _So they won't sense it._  
Everyone was asleep. Even Zetsu.  
This couldn't have been more perfect a night. No moon was out, so I had cover- and Zetsu was asleep, lessening my chances of getting caught.  
_Tonight was meant for this,_ I lied to myself, tucking the Mp3 safely under the cushion, and pulling out the dagger.  
I wrapped my fingers around it and bit my lip, making the pain keep my thoughts clear. And silently, glad that my feet were bound with muffling bandages, I crept silently onto the table, and then forward to where Itachi slept.

I looked down at him. He was lying on his side, like I had seen Sasuke do in the anime as a kid. He was facing me, though, and his heart was wide open.  
_Nothin to it but to do it,_ I bit my lip again, pulled my arm back, and with sudden determination to get out of this hellhole, brought all my chakra to that arm and thrust forward.

With the chakra in my arm, it went in nicely, making a sickening splurging sound. I twisted, trying to make sure I hit the mark.  
Itachi's eyes flew open as he tried to make a sound, but my hand firmly covered his mouth.  
"Recognize _that_ tactic, bastard?" I whispered harshly, then pulled the blade out, turned, leaped off the table, landed running, skidded under the cockpit, and pushed the blade into Kisame's heart.  
I basically did a repeat of what I did to Itachi, except without the words. And as soon as I twisted the dagger, I pulled it out, tossed the bloody thing (once again, sorry for the pun) to the side.  
And then I ran for my life, up to the cockpit, where Zetsu sat with his venus flytrap thing closed.  
He was in the way of where I was going to jump.  
I made a snap decision, brought chakra into my legs, and barreled into him, knocking him over into the water.  
I had to go the other way now. I stepped on the seat of the cockpit, stepped on the edge of the boat, and made the most beautiful dive I had ever done into the black waters.

It was all done in a beautiful ten seconds.  
I was kicking down to the bottom- I had taken in a huge breath to sustain me for what I hoped to be a long time. I knew the last time I checked I could hold it for forty-five seconds.  
As soon as I was a good ten feet under, I planned to stay out of sight for as long as possible. We were close to land- we had to be in a cove at night for obvious reasons- and we weren't too far from the shore either, maybe fifty feet.  
I _had_ to hold my breath for that time. It was a matter of life and death, because I was now sure that they didn't think I was worth the effort.  
_Drauru, how long would it take us to surpass a tailed beast?_ I thought, to keep my panicing mind busy as I kicked forward.  
_Depends on the training._ He replied, and I had to concentrate to keep my breath.  
_How far have we- never mind._ I could see the sandy ground beneath me.

My breath was running out fast, it was painful to hold it in. I let out a little bit, to relieve my body of the stale air, and trick it into not screaming at me for a few seconds.  
The water depth came to about three feet, and I swam forward, not wanting to run with drag, and then stood when it came it two.  
I made leaping bounds out of the water, then ran for my life for the forest ahead.  
And through the fearful exhilaration, I wanted to scream, _"Take that, bitches!"_ But of course, that would only blow my cover.

I panted hard from holding my breath for so long as I ran through the forest.  
I had to leap a lot over clumps of vegetation, and tree branches were slapping at me and my legs were getting cut.  
The bandages around my feet were getting cut up by rocks, and eventually fell away. I had to stop and pick them up with me, so I wouldn't leave a trail.  
I thought, for a fleeting second, to climb up tree into a thing of leaves that would hide me...  
My instincts said yes, cover from predators, I said no. The climb would take a lot of time and energy, and if moved even slightly, the leaves would shake and give away my position.  
_I'm doing it, Hanetora,_ I thought as I carefully, but quickly picked my way through the forest.  
I looked at my legs. One of the cuts was starting to bleed.  
I stopped, looked around, and found what I was looking for: a large rock.  
Like the beginning of my journey, I picked it up. Before throwing it, however, I reached down and wiped my hand across the cut, wiping the blood away. Then, I took a different direction, smearing the blood on nearby plants and such, taking it at a walk. As soon as I did, however, I walked back, turned, and threw the rock in the false trail I had just made. Then, I tied one of the bandages around the cut, and started running again.  
My pursuers, if any, were being as quiet as I was.  
Then, I knew for sure that they _were_ coming. Even if they didn't want me anymore, they would want revenge if I had killed one of them.  
I was a bit devastated that I had possibly killed someone, no matter who it was. No, that wasn't it- I suddenly realized what it was.  
My family was gone. My friends were gone. There was no one that needed me- and now...  
_The Akatsuki won't want me anymore,_ I thought, and it sounds weird, but tears started coming to my eyes. I was starting to react the same way as most people did when they were abducted for a long period of time. I didn't realize it, but I had depended on them. They had wanted me. Not for me myself, but they still wanted me in some way. And they were the only ones that did now in the world, and now they wouldn't. Now...  
I was worthless.  
I told myself they had beaten me. I told myself they didn't give a damn if I was feeling pain.  
But I had relied on them for life itself.  
Maybe that was why people reacted that way. Maybe to keep themselves stable.  
But I was alone, now. Alone and running from an unsightly future.  
I was hurting badly. I wanted Hanetora here with me so badly, I wanted to go home, I wanted to be loved. But I was never going to be again, and I could feel my heart bleeding. The blood was coming out in the form of tears, and it wouldn't stop.

I saw a clearing ahead, but stopped and took a good look first. There was nothing that would provide for me- no water or anything- but just dangerously open space.  
I wanted to be found, and I didn't. But I ended up going around it, until eventually, the forest started thinning, the trees getting wider apart. And soon, a house came up ahead. A small, log cabin.  
_The lights were on._  
I quickly ran up to the door, trying the knob. It was open. I didn't care about being polite, I was going to be killed, I thought the family- or whoever it was- would understand.  
"Hello? I apologize for barging in, but I need help."  
No answer. I guess they didn't hear me, talking in the kitchen or something, doing something a normal family did.  
I staggered down the hall, tired and injured from running, and found the kitchen. No one was there.  
That's why they didn't hear me, they were in the rooms. It was night, duh.  
I hobbled past the family room, down another hall were the rooms were- two on either side, and further down the hall, a master bedroom of some sort.  
I looked in the first two rooms- empty- and instantly knew that this was a married couple.  
I then made my way to the master bedroom. The door was open a crack. I pushed it open, not looking in, not wanting to be so impolite.  
"Hello? I need help, I'm injured..." I said, looking at all the bruises on me.  
The bandages on my hands and arms had come off, I was carrying those also, and the red, heavily scabbed flesh of my arms was open.  
There was no reply. I pushed the door forward, and hobbled in.  
"Hello? Please, I need help..."

"Hello? Hello? Please, wake up..." I said as I made my way to where a man and a woman were sleeping in pajamas.  
I got to the bed and shook the man's arm. "I need help, sir, please..."  
He rolled over limply, and I saw a huge hole in his chest where blood was heavily pouring out from.  
Still pouring out.  
Fresh.  
I had gasped and had to cover my mouth as my frightened sobs beat against my palm.  
I looked at the woman, her throat was slit and her eyes lifeless, locked in a look of horror before she died.  
The space between them was nearly black with blood, and I pulled away, removing my hands from my mouth, sobbing at the horrific scene as blood was on my arms.  
You think in movies, and video games, you see all this violence and blood, and you think of how blood doesn't daunt you. Maybe you even see those E.R. videos, and you don't even twitch.  
But in real life, it's worse by more than a tenfold. And this dead man's blood was on me, and I absolutely freaked out.  
I was crying the form of shrieking sobs, but I finally calmed down, and tried to think straight.  
I had to force myself to look at their wounds again- they were ragged, made by a wide knife-like thing.  
_A wide knife?!_  
I pulled the covers back a bit, and there was my bronze dagger.  
I stared, wide-eyed, in shock, as it dawned on me. I could not touch the dagger, however, it seemed evil to me now. And tears coming down my cheeks, I was confused, not knowing what to think, oh god, this couple was _murdered_ just minutes ago...  
I was sobbing, tired, scared, bloody, as I turned around.  
And standing there, silhouetted in the doorway, was the dark form of Itachi.

I wondered what it was like, seeing me turn, and then seeing the frightened, scared me. But I was more concerned with myself at the moment, knowing my death was at hand.  
He started walking forward.  
I noticed blood on his hands, and backed into the corner made by where the bed met the wall. I back into it, and as he came forward, I wished I could melt into it.  
I pushed myself as far back as I could, my legs still digging helplessly at the floor. And I was crying hard, so afraid now, so afraid...  
"Please kill me quickly," I whimpered as he stepped in front of me. "Please make it fast."  
He knelt down not even a foot in front of me, and I felt so powerless, so alone, so afraid...  
And he leaned in by my ear, and whispered, "Guess what? We're not going to kill you."  
I put my arms up over my head, moaning "Leave me alone, go away, please don't torture me again, no..."  
I heard him step back and I heard the metallic clink as he drew a kunai. And I started hyperventilating, I reached up on the bed for my dagger, my fingers closed around it as I fell back down, turned it around, aimed it at my own heart, and tried to plunge it in.

Itachi grabbed my wrist, however, holding it away from me, with his other hand, he slammed his fist into my stomach.  
I coiled over, coughing out blood, dropping the dagger.  
His fingers wrapped around my throat, and he lifted me into the air, then threw me to the right, against the wall.  
My back hit, the rest of me followed, snapping back painfully before I fell on my hands and knees on the ground. I suddenly felt a heel digging into my spine as he slammed me into the ground.  
He rolled me over with his foot, then slammed his heel into my stomach, digging hard, over and over again, until the amount of coughed up blood was covering my chin completely.  
He stopped, and I lay there, unable to scream in pain, so I just cried instead, tears of pain, intense pain...  
I rolled over and tried to crawl away.  
Itachi wasn't done with me. He grabbed the back of my shirt, lifted me up, and then grabbed my collar, bringing me to eye level.  
I stared into his eyes, light from the outside hallway shining on my face, illuminating the clear tears as they ran in an arc around my cheeks. I could only keep tearing, as he had me there, right there, in front of those eyes. I was crying because I was scared, in a state of pure terror.  
He pushed me against the wall, holding me there at eye level.  
"Have you had enough?" He asked as he stuck the kunai knife in me.  
I wasn't able to talk. I tried, I desperately tried, but I couldn't so much as even breathe out.  
"Well, have you?" He stabbed me agan.  
He knew I couldn't answer.  
"Have you, Hisakata?" Again, he stabbed.  
"Have you had enough?" Again.  
And finally, I was able to speak again, but barely.  
"No more," it was a pained whimper. And even though he wasn't stabbing me anymore, the pain was blinding. "No more, no more," I moaned, not being able to take it. I just wanted it to stop, oh god, it hurt, if I could wish for anything, it'd be for this to be over...  
I was bloody all over. All of my older scabs had opened up from the activity.  
Itachi dropped me, and I crumpled to the floor, then rolled on my stomach, moaning, crying, wishing for it to stop, not being able to do anything...  
"Drauru, help me," I moaned, "Take me to the safe place, oh god, it hurts..."  
Drauru couldn't help me, of course. It did take energy to pull me there, and he was drained from his last trip. Also, he was feeling exactly everything I was.  
I sputtered on the blood the was in my mouth. "Want to die, want to die..."  
Itachi picked me up in his arms, though I barely noticed through the intense pain of all my wounds.  
And he started walked back towards the boat.  
Out of the house, through the forest, and over the water, with me crying the entire time and bleeding onto his robes. 


	4. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT IF YOU WANT

**Author's Note:** I think you'll like this chapter. Short for a reason. Muhahaha… 3

_**Four (actually, three and a half, but whatever)**_

Itachi was the one that had bandaged the wounds.  
He and Kisame were fine- they had sensed the danger and used clones. Itachi came to get me alone, trailing me like a predator, until he knew where I was going, went ahead into the cabin, and killed the sleeping couple.  
I was paranoid those last few days.  
I spent most of my time pushed as far into the front of the boat as possible, because that was as far as possible from Itachi. Tobi would come up every now an then with food, but other than that, I stayed there, shivering, listening to music, paranoid, singing to myself as I rocked back and forth.  
Itachi came up one day.  
As soon as I heard footsteps, I knew it was him. I tried to convince my mind it wasn't, I wished I could cast myself into an illusion, and started singing loudly to block out the noise.  
"I don't know who to trust, no surprise."  
I could feel the vibration from the footsteps now.  
"Heavy thoughts sift through dust, and the lies...  
"Trying not to break, but I'm so tired of this deceit."  
I didn't know what deceit meant. I probably was mishearing the lyrics, as I often did- some songs I didn't even know what they were saying through the entire thing.  
_Yes, Hisakata, concentrate on that. Pay no attention to the man behind you._  
I sang louder.  
"Every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet, all I ever think about is this, all the tiring time between, and how, trying to put my trust in you just takes so much out of me."  
I felt the footsteps stop close behind me. I was yelling now.  
"Take everything but the inside, and throw it all away, 'cause I swear, for the last time, I won't trust myself with you...  
"...Tension is building inside, steadily- _everyone feels so far away from me_- heavy thoughts forcing their way, out of reach... Trying not to break, but I'm so tired of this deceit, every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet..."  
I wondered why Itachi had stopped. What if he was drawing a kunai?  
I was nearly shouting as I sang.  
"Take everything but the inside, and throw it all away, 'cause I swear, for the last time, I won't trust myself with you!  
"I won't waste myself on you!..."  
"Waste myself on you..."  
I pulled the earphones out, yelling, 'What do you want?!"  
And I turned, to see Itachi had crouched down. We staring face-to-face.  
I froze. There was a pause.  
"Why did you stop?" Itachi asked.  
I could just stare at him, my teeth clenched nervously. I tried to back myself further into the front of the boat, but nearly fell of the edge.  
Itachi grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back to steady ground.  
Boat.  
Whatever.  
But this was the same Itachi that had repeatedly stabbed me. I had no idea what was going on, I just reached out for the railing on the front of the boat, and pulled me closer to it.  
Itachi left, and I stayed there, once again a paranoid mess.

The next day, the last day I thought we'd be on the boat, a storm set in. We had to shelter and anchor in a cove, and we all had to be in the deck, the six of us.  
It wasn't the roomiest, let me tell you.  
Tobi announced he was bored anyways, and rolled into the bow of the boat to sleep.  
Zetsu didn't say anything, but went under the cockpit to sleep so he could take watch for the night.  
So then there were four of us, Deidara sitting next to Kisame (I knew he hated Itachi, but that meant...) and Itachi sitting next to me.  
I was scooted to the very edge of the bench, pressed against the wall.  
It was quiet. I didn't like the silence, it was uncomfortable. I was scared enough of sitting so close to Itachi.  
Deidara made some comment on Hidan and Kakuzu about how they died, and Kisame said all they knew was that Kakashi's group killed them.  
"Naruto used Wind Element Rasengan, which killed Kakuzu by itself." I said suddenly, then wondered why I did.  
All three were looking at me. I avoided their eyes by looking at the floor.  
"And Hidan?" We heard Tobi, who was supposed to be asleep, call from the bow.  
"I don't know." A lie. I didn't want to reveal the whereabouts of his destroyed body to them, even though he was dead in the eyes of their leader.  
I didn't like the attention. I shivered once, and pressed myself back into the wall.  
Kisame laughed. "Look at her, she's so scared!"  
Deidara just smirked.  
And I looked away, looked at my feet, because I knew that they were in fact looking at my pitiful form and laughing.  
I stole a glance at Kisame and Deidara- Kisame was grinning and Deidara still smirking.  
And slowly, I looked up at Itachi.  
He was looking directly at me, Sharingan blazing.  
I gasped sharply, but then tried to back away.  
"I'm going to check her mental and emotional condition." He announced, then, the black of his eyes thickened.  
"Mangekyou Sharingan."

I was just outside of a large, one-story house in the world of Tsukiyomi.  
Nothing happened. I figured Itachi was reading my condition or something.

Still, my heart was pounding. The last time he beat me was painful, but he had been holding back- that's what scared me. I had been trying to avoid this place, because here, he had no limits.  
Here, there was no holding back.  
"Causing more mental damage is not what you're here for," I heard his voice come from behind me. I whirled around, but no one was there. "I'm checking your mental and emotional condition to make sure nothing is permanently damaged."  
"You bastard," I said through clenched teeth. "After everything that you did, how could you not expect something permanent?!"  
I was scared of defying him like that. Afraid I would provoke him, and here in Tsukiyomi, he knew it. And that fear caused tears to well up, because I was about to bring up painful memories.  
"I passed out trying to run from Orochimaru, and woke up to see Kisame talking about cutting me! And later, when I tried to run away, I was beaten for the first time in my life, and it only continued from there, my best and only friend tried to kill me, but was killed, leaving me alone, and I was stuck in a place with all of those I feared, and whenever I tried to run, I was punished so harshly, I nearly went insane! I! Just! Want! To! Go! HOME!!" I yelled, my voice slightly hoarse, and because I heard Itachi's voice from behind me, I ran into the house, instinct warning me to take shelter in some form, because in the wild, that would save you.  
But in the wild, the danger eventually passed. Here, the predator was always present.  
I frantically looked left and right- a living room, the hallway to the bedrooms.  
I ran past the living room to the kitchen, and stopped in front of large double doors.  
And I suddenly knew this house. It was where Itachi's family was the night he killed them.  
And I felt like Sasuke, standing in front of the double doors, afraid to open them.  
For some reason, I did, deciding to bolt away if _he_ was there.  
I opened them...  
No one was there.  
But there didn't seem like anything hiding-worthy.  
I turned and headed for the bedrooms.  
I glanced at each one, and stopped, walking into the one I knew was Sasuke's, from the small bed pushed in the corner.  
I looked around. There were some kunai and shuriken on the ground, I figured Sasuke never got the chance to clean them up.  
I picked up a kunai, and sat on the bed, looking at it. It was sharp- Sasuke took good care of his weapons in determination to come out of his brother's shadow.  
My words echoed inside my head.  
_"I! Just! Want! To! Go! HOME!!"_  
I wasn't sure what I was feeling. Anger or sorrow? A confusing mix of both?  
I heard footsteps, and startled, I stepped off of the bed and rolled under it.  
I saw Itachi come in, and froze, not breathing.  
He walked further in, stopped, and there was a terrible pause.  
Then, he walked back out.  
I breathed out, then rolled back out and sat on the bed again.  
Was he going to torture me for yelling at him like that?  
I looked up, and bam, he was there, looking at me.  
I shrieked in surprise and pushed myself back against the wall, freaking at how close he was to me.  
"Leave me alone, you've already punished me for running," I whimpered as he stepped closer, putting his leg on the bed, and then, "How did you find me?"  
He smirked as he came closer, trapping me there in the corner. "Tsukiyomi is my world," he said, and the kunai in my hand suddenly turned to dust.  
I curled up, my knees in front of me and my arms up in front of my head, which was turned to the side. I shut my eyes tightly, a sob escaped me as tears of fear ran out of the corner of my eyes.  
Itachi came closer, so we were touching, I whimpered in anticipation of whatever blade would pierce my skin.  
One of his hands curled around my wrists, pulling them down, out of the way.  
Oh god, he was going to cut up my face...  
I started whimpering again, but with his other hand, he put a finger under my chin, turned my tear-streaked face to face him, leaned forward, and touched his lips to mine.

Hello.


	5. TO FOLLOW ME TO SEE HOW IT'S GOING, YOU

**Author's Note:** TEE HEE. EH. EHEHE. _

_**Five**_

My mind went berserk.  
He pulled away, nearly as much confusion on his face as there was on mine. But I was just staring at him, not really sure of what just happened, my mind racing to figure things out before my head exploded.  
No, this didn't just happen. This was Itachi. Uchiha Itachi, and I was just Hisakata. Fifteen and eighteen. Three years apart, but wait, what? What had just happened?  
I refused to believe it.  
I stared at him, mouth agape. And he simply replied, "I don't understand either," and the next few minutes passed by with me trying to figure this out and him just sitting there, probably doing the same thing.  
I eventually stopped staring, and just sat on the bed, rocking back and forth, still trying to figure things out.  
"Hisakata," Itachi said, "There is something you can tell me that no one else on that boat can."  
I was quiet, my head buzzing.  
"I need to know what is happening to someone when there's a certain person, that whenever they talk to them, it makes them feel happy, in a way. They like to be near this person, and whenever something happens to that person, they get worried."  
Itachi looked at me. "All these feelings are alien to me."  
And suddenly, I thought of Itachi asking Kisame for love advice, and started laughing.  
_"Kisame? What would you do if you were infatuated with the abductee you were taking to become a weapon of war?"_  
I laughed until I cried. I fell back and laughed, and not only at the hilarity of it all, but I laughed at the sorry condition I was in, I laughed at what became of me, I laughed at all my wounds and I laughed at how many times I'd failed. I laughed at how I would never be able to fulfill my promise to Hanetora, that I had failed, failed him, and my laughter became the hollow sort.  
And because we were in Tsukiyomi, Itachi knew it.  
I sighed. "I'm going to go insane." I paused, remembering the dream. "Shatter into a million pieces."  
And we were quiet then.  
I never answered Itachi's question.

We were scheduled to arrive at the dock that day. I was restless, moving around, nervous and worried. I never stopped in one place for more than ten minutes.  
_I have to escape, Drauru. I have to get off of this boat._ I thought to him as I nervously curled a lock of hair around my fingers.  
_We've run out of ideas,_ he replied grimly. _I don't think there's another way. Have you thought of anything?_  
_No,_ I sighed, and looked around. I was thinking about every part of the boat.  
We had strong wind that day, and the sails were full and the boat was fast. It only put me on the edge further. I felt like a caged mouse being taken to a lair full of snakes.  
"If only the stupid mast would break or something," I growled.  
Hello.  
_The mast, Drauru! I can dive into the water from the top._ I thought excitedly, and Drauru didn't reply, because we both knew it wouldn't work at all, and that it was pointless.  
But I had to do something.  
I hoped that the whole chakra thing worked, and brought it to my legs, hoping to connect well. And then, running, I grabbed onto the mast and started climbing.  
I forgot about my fear of heights.  
But trust me, I remembered once I was near the top.  
It was maybe, twenty feet high? And when you're up there, looking down, with nothing supporting you but your hands and feet, it seems like a hundred feet.  
_Hisakata, what are you doing?_ Drauru asked in alarm, not actually thinking I'd do it. _It won't work. You might as well jump off of the side of the boat. Stop, Hisakata!_  
But my mind was firmly implanted with the idea that from here, diving would take me straight to the twenty-five foot bottom.  
I wasn't thinking straight. I just wanted to escape.  
The chakra connection was working, supporting me a bit better than if I had tried without it.  
But as I neared the top, I reached out, and right as I touched the top, Itachi appeared.  
He was knelt on it like he had the nigh Sasuke glimpsed him, looking at me with- what? Amusement? Pity?  
But our faces were only inches away.  
So it made sense that in my surprise, my concentration broke and I slipped. My body swung away from the mast, with my one hand holding onto the top.  
And suddenly, I agreed with Drauru.  
I was afraid to fall. And I was panicing up there, freaking out, not able to get my other hand on the mast.  
My fingers couldn't hold the weight of my entire body. My knuckles were going white.  
"I want to go down," I whispered to myself with crazy fear.  
Itachi smirked, and lifted up his foot.  
My eyes widened. No. No, not the fall, not the fall, oh god no...  
"No, Itachi-sama, don't do it, please..." I begged, but he didn't head my words.  
His foot came down on my fingers, and the pain, it felt like an iron ton had fallen on my fingers.  
And they came off of the mast, and I fell.

The fall was fast, but it was the scariest thing in those few moments. And I fell on the back of the boat; first my back hit, then my body followed.  
My head snapped back and hit the boat, _hard_, and I got up on the spot suddenly, swayed, and proclaimed, "Ow."  
Itachi appeared by me. I could barely tell, because my world was currently spinning in five different directions at once.  
"I think I've concussed," I said stupidly, teetering over to the rail on the front of the boat. Leaning over it, I emptied the contents of my stomach, then sat down, announcing, "Sorry, Bill, but Misirlou is too fast for me. I'll play it on Medium." And then everything went black.

_"He-llo-ooo."_ A voice drifted into the foggy darkness.  
"Hey, I didn't know fog could be black. Who exploded?" I mumbled, then my senses came back slowly.  
I first felt an aching in my head, and a throbbing pain on the fingers of my right hand.  
"I have concussed." I said, blinking.  
I was laying in the bow of the boat (feet-first) and Tobi was sitting beside me.  
"You had a concussion. I have to wake you up every four hours." He said. "Hey, are you awake?"  
"No," I grumbled, and fell back into darkness.  
Zetsu, Itachi and Kisame were in the cockpit, Deidara on one of the benches, fingering around with his explosive clay.  
Whenever Tobi woke me up, we started playing a game of whoever-laughs-first loses.  
I went first. "Imagine Kisame in big, pink grandma underwear with red hearts on it." I started off the game.  
Tobi twitched. I bit my lip.  
And we both burst out laughing at the same time.  
"Okay okay, it was a tie. My turn." Tobi sniggered, then stopped to think. "Um... Deidara, Zetsu, Itachi, Kisame, and the leader all together arms-in-arms, doing the can-can."  
We froze, resisting the impulse to laugh.  
And then I beat it. "In poodle skirts, wearing tiaras."  
We started laughing again, but stopped as Deidara growled at us.  
"Watch it, Tobi," he snarled, molding some of the clay into a little creature.  
"Sorry, Deidara-senpai."  
And then, Kisame stepped down into the deck, announcing that we were almost there.  
Tobi and I stared at him, then looked at each other, and started laughing again.  
"What is it?" Kisame said, clearly annoyed.  
"You really don't want to know," Deidara replied with a sigh.

We reached land.  
After docking and leaving the boat, Deidara teamed up with Tobi and left, Kisame and Zetsu went off on their own missions, and I was stuck with Itachi.  
But we were heading into town- oh, the joy of seeing normal people again!  
We were staying there for the night s Itachi could look for another boat rental- we had one more, smaller stretch of water to cross.  
We first checked into a hotel-ish sort of place.  
Itachi was wearing one of those straw-hat things.  
"Excuse me," I said to the man at the counter, "My uncle and I are staying for one night. How much will it be?"  
I was glad I had black hair right then.  
The man glanced at Itachi, and back at me. But before he could speak, I said, "He's mute. How much is it for two rooms?"  
I felt Itachi put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it painfully- he didn't want me trying anything funny.  
"One room," I quickly corrected. "But two beds. I can't stand sleeping next to him, he snores."  
The man lifted a brow but carried out the transaction, and Itachi put money on the counter. We were given the key, and were soon in our room.  
I immediately claimed the bed closest to the window. As soon as I flopped onto it, I started laughing.  
"What was that?" Itachi said, ice in his voice.  
I kept laughing, putting a hand up to my face. "You almost never talk anyways."  
"I do not snore."  
"How do you know?" I looked at him, smirking. "No one can tell when they're asleep."  
He gave me a venomous look, but I ignored it. "While you go looking for the rental, can I go out in town?"  
He looked at me, not saying anything. "I just want to get some clothes."  
I was still in the swimsuit and t-shirt.  
He didn't say anything, just dropped a bunch of money onto my bed.  
"Thanks." I said, then, "Could I possibly take a weapon or something? Just for self-defense- I don't know these streets."  
I was still a bit paranoid about being kidnapped- which was weird, since I technically _was_ already kidnapped.  
He didn't seem like he would- he was probably thinking I might try to kill myself or something- but I just wanted to live now, to get through this.  
Itachi put a kunai and three shuriken next to the money, then, my eyes grew big as he pulled out my bronze-colored claw dagger.  
"You- you-" I said, staring at it. It still had blood stains from when he used it against the couple.  
I was silent as he put the weapons into a pack, and left it there.  
My dagger had killed. I was still edgy about it.  
But I had money. Wonderful.  
So I left, heading first for the nearest clothes store.

I bought a pair of jeans first thing, along with under garments. And then, I wanted at least two more pairs of clothes to be able to change out of. Wasn't much, but I wasn't a shopping person.  
I thought of what would help me, at all. It couldn't weigh me down, but it couldn't be too thin.  
I ended up choosing a pair of denim shorts, and a wide banded camo tank top (three inches on the straps). The second outfit was a black undershirt, a light red jacket, and white capris. I didn't even bother with shoes- the soles of my feet had thickened by now, and I could walk on most surfaces without wincing.  
I knew it had something to do with Drauru. Because we were intertwined, it affected me- not too largely in some cases, but it still did.  
My hair didn't grow anywhere besides my head, and my skin was slightly tougher- that was Drauru's dragon side. But the soles of my feet had to do with the wolf pads.  
My body didn't secreet oil like normal human's did, but Drauru had no explanation for this. And I didn't get my period, which was a blessing.  
I asked Drauru if I would ever be able to have children, because one day, when I escaped, I wanted to live a normal life.  
He said that he simply didn't know, and I shrugged off the matter.  
My senses were stronger- not like those crazy werewolf stories, but a few hairs above normal humans. For example, I was considering getting contacts before I ended up here. Now, I could see perfectly.  
Other than that, though, I was fine. Nothing drastic, see?

I had walked back and deposited the bag of clothes in the hotel- I didn't like toting things along- and then headed back into the streets, smiling to myself at the normality of it all.  
I was walking alone in my jeans and shirt- though Hanetora's shirt was beaten up and scruffy, I didn't want to lose it.  
Smells of food from street vendors filled the air, and the buzz of the people generally made up the noise.  
It was pleasant. I smiled, knowing it wouldn't last, so I may as well have enjoyed it.  
But I heard something different above the general happier commotion.  
My pace increased- it was coming from an alley up ahead, between two buildings.  
I turned around the corner of it.  
It was straight down to a dead end.  
And there were five large, burly men looking at something further into the wall.  
I gasped- it was a young girl.  
And without thinking, I ran down the street, reaching for my weapons.

They had her trapped against the wall- she looked to be about thirteen- and she was on the ground, whimpering in fear.  
"Come on, babe, we won't hurt you..." One of the men snickered as he advanced.  
I slipped between them before they knew it, and stepped in front of the girl.  
"Back off!" I snarled, holding up the dagger protectively.  
The man in front paused in surprise, then laughed. "Looky here, we got another one." he grinned as he cracked his knuckles.  
My heart leaped. I was only fifteen- these were fully grown, muscular, adult men.  
He stepped forward.  
"Get into the corner!" I yelled back at the girl, who immediately scrambled back into it. I knew it was a bad move if she was trying to escape, but we wouldn't have been able to anyways with five men there- so this way, I could defend her better. "Take this," I muttered, flicking the kunai behind me. She caught it, and I looked up, set my face, swallowed my fear and ran forward.  
The balded man threw a large fist forward. I stepped to the left to avoid it, and tried to slash at him with the dagger.  
He moved back a step, then suddenly rushed me, using his body to throw me into the wall.  
I fell, landing crouched. My back ached from being slammed.  
Then man smirked and brought his foot forward.  
I had to react fast before they split up and went for the girl.  
My mind raced, and I stepped to the side barely enough to avoid it, then jumped forward.  
And before the man knew what had happened, I had sunken the dagger perfectly into his chest. 

I had a lot of practice at that- my aim wasn't off by a sliver.  
I watched his eyes, wide as blood flew from the wound, as he fell to the ground with me standing on him. I pulled the dagger out, and turned to look at the astonished faces of the other four men.  
I was surprised- I had just killed someone- but I couldn't stay that way. Moving, I stepped back in front of the girl protectively.  
Another unarmed man- he had tattoos all over his large, thick arms (and I don't mean fat)- ran forward in surprising speed.  
"You little bitch!" He yelled, and I ducked the first blow, but he recognized the tactic quickly, and slugged his fist into my stomach.  
I doubled over, a bit of bloody spit flying from my mouth as the air in my lungs left me. I staggered backwards.  
He came behind me, however, grabbing my arm and putting it behind my back.  
"You got lucky," he sneered, and started pushing my arm up.  
I couldn't focus because of two factors: I wasn't able to breathe from getting winded, and my arm was starting to ache as the man intended to break it.  
He lifted my arm further. I bent forward as an automatic response.  
I couldn't take it. I could feel my arm hurting worse and worse, and at the same time, I was panicing from not being able to breathe.  
And suddenly, I felt a sharp pain as air finally entered my lungs, and glancing back at the man, I leaned forward more, lifted my foot, and smashed it backwards, right where it counted.  
The man's eyes rolled and he fell back shouting in pain, and then he hit the floor passed out.  
Probably because I brought chakra to my foot.  
Before I knew what was happening, though, the third man had grabbed me while I wasn't paying attention and brought a slick, sharp dagger to my throat.  
I raised my head as he pressed it forward, another automatic response.  
"Don't move- I wouldn't want to have to slit that pretty little neck of yours, now, would I?" The creep grinned, lowering his head closer to my neck. And he whispered, "What a hot little bitch you are, I think after we tie you and the other girl up, we'll take you to our hideout, tie you to the couch, and..." He leaned forward to lick my neck.  
And suddenly, he didn't have his tongue anymore.  
The girl had brought down the kunai knife, slicing it cleanly in half. Well, I shouldn't say cleanly- there was a large messy burst of blood as he stumbled back, and soon, his entire mouth and lower face was completely covered as He gave an awkward, gurgling scream.  
My dad had told me that if your tongue was cut badly, you could bleed to death.  
This was a little more than badly.  
The man fell to the ground, and I turned and looked at the girl. "Stay back!" I yelled as the other man, who looked like the leader, came forward.  
I took out the shuriken and threw them, but the man suddenly deflected them with this huge, silver knife. The blade must have been a good ten inches.  
He grinned maliciously.  
I just noticed he had a forehead protector- the Land of Rain. He had tousled brown hair, and a scar that went from under his right eye to across his nose.  
He was a ninja.  
Panic bubbled up inside of me. He was a ninja. I couldn't go up against him.  
"You're a missing-nin?" I asked, trying to keep my calm.  
"Yes- I'm a chunin from Amegakure." He kept walking forward, grinning.  
"Why are you with these scum?" I tried to growl, but it didn't work. I was afraid. I was alone with a ninja who was going to tie me and the girl I tried to protect down, and do horrible things to us.  
I was afraid.  
"I didn't like all those rules you had to live by," he sneered. "Doing all those things for others. I had wanted to become a ninja so I could do whatever I wanted with my power. So I left the village, and joined a small gang, intending to make them more powerful than any other. We could ruled the streets, eventually take over town. But I can't do that with you taking down my men, can I?" He advanced.  
"Stay back!" I yelled, my voice weak.  
He suddenly appeared in front of me, his knife already coming down.  
I didn't have time to move.  
It flashed.  
Blood flew.  
It sliced nicely, leaving a huge gash that went the side of my forehead and down the side of my face.  
I cried out, stumbling backwards, my hand gripping the cut.  
I tried to get up, and weakly made it to my feet, stepping back until I hit the wall.  
The leader threw his arm out and a barrage of shuriken flashed by, and I flinched, but they didn't sink into me. Instead, my hands and feet were suddenly pinned to the wall: there were stretches of rope with a shuriken on either end, those were around my wrists and ankles, leaving me helpless.  
The girl wanted to move forward, but she didn't understand the danger of him being a ninja.  
"Stay back!" I hissed, and the ninja laughed. He had another henchman behind him, meaning he could go after either of us.  
Blood was heavily pouring down the side of my face; facial wounds bleed a lot.  
The gang leader walked right up to me.  
"You're an annoying brat. I think we'll just keep the girl, and force her to watch as we cut you-"  
He slashed my forearm, making me scream-  
"Slowly-"  
He dragged the blade across my shoulder, and you can imagine the resulting sound-  
"Until you bleed to death."  
And then, he stabbed my in the stomach, pushing all of that gigantic knife in until only the handle was showing.  
I didn't make any sound this time.

My eyes were wide- the pain was literally beyond screaming.  
When I had heard the term before, I didn't think there was such thing.  
Now, I knew it was real.  
I started taking ragged, shuddering breaths, a line of blood trickling out of the corner of my mouth,

And then, suddenly, I looked up at the man, _snarling_.  
"My, your canines are sharp." He mused.  
Indeed, I suddenly had fangs. And they were growing.  
The man's face went from musing, to confused, as he saw my teeth growing long and sharp.  
"My, your canines are _really_ sharp."  
"That's because I'm a fucking werewolf," I snarled, and then pulled at the ropes, which snapped.  
The man stepped back, confused.  
I crouched down on all fours, then ran at him.  
And seconds before I was about to hit him, I swerved to the right, going for the henchman behind him.  
I wanted to eliminate the possibility of the girl getting grabbed wile I was fighting.  
In a single bound, I leaped, and suddenly, I was Drauru for a second, a dragonwolf.  
And that dragonwolf landed with his fangs closing on the greatly surprised man's throat, ripping it out.  
And then I was me again, turning and charging, only to feint so I could, once again, step in front of the girl. But this time, I fell, the large stab wound taking it's toll.  
The gang leader, now pissed off, started to walk towards us, knife flashing.

I held the dagger with my left hand, and clutched at the wound with the right, but blood seeped through my fingers and onto my shirt.  
I was a foot in front of the girl, willing to use my body to protect her.  
But I was weakening quickly. I was going to die, condemning the girl to a terrible fate.  
I had failed Hanetora, failed everything.  
"Die, bitch!" The man screamed in fury as I rose to my feet to meet him.  
He slashed at my chest with that knife, aiming for my heart.

There was a cling of metal.  
I looked up.  
Itachi was standing in front of me- he had deflected the knife with his own kunai.  
"Are you a ninja?" The girl whispered to me suddenly as they started to fight.  
"No- but you could say I hang around some strong ones," I said, thinking sarcastically, _just a bit_, "That man who stabbed me- he's a ninja."  
The chunin leaped back. "You're in the way," he growled, making a seal. "Ninpou: Hari Kouu no Jutsu!"  
He crossed his arms, then flung them out. Hundreds of senbon needles flew from them, and at a close range, would be hard to dodge...  
They all hit Itachi, who stood calmly.  
And suddenly the man shouted out in pain, because he was covered in his own needles just like Itachi.  
"What's going on?" The girl asked, shaking. I didn't blame her for being frightened. "Are you really a werewolf?"  
"No- that was an illusion," I lied. "So is this- the man was caught in an illusion from the beggining."  
The needles on Itachi disappeared, and the man fell back, dead, as all his vital points were hit.  
Itachi turned around and looked at us.  
My heart suddenly leaped. "Run," I told the girl.  
"What? Why? Is he going to kill us? No, I can't leave you here to die," she said. "You saved my life."  
"Don't worry about me, you idiot! I'll be fine! Run!" I shouted, and frightened, the girl stood up and ran, dropping the kunai.  
Itachi turned.  
"Leave her alone, Itachi," I growled, and he stopped.  
As the girl got to the end of the alley, she shouted back, "I owe you!" And then disappeared.

I lay back against the wall, groaning painfully. It was _really_ bloody: Blood coming down the right side of my face, out of the left corner of my mouth, my left shoulder and forearm were bleeding, and I was bruised all over.  
Oh, and the huge stab wound.  
Itachi knelt down in front of me. "Why did you go so far to save her?" He asked as he looked at my shirt; it was completely stained red.  
"Because," I said, my voice strained, I had to stop between sentences to catch my breath. "It was the right thing to do... In my eyes. I believe in... what's right." I looked up at Itachi. "If I don't have that, how am I supposed to survive?"  
He was silent as he lifted up my shirt to survey the damage.  
I moved my hand that was clutching the wound, and a fresh wave of blood came out. I held my shirt in place, right below my breasts. I didn't have the energy to be embarressed at all, seeing as I was just stabbed completely with a ten-inch knife.  
It looked bad. Blood was pouring from it down my stomach, and I couldn't stand to look at it, it was gruesome.  
"The girl is completely... unharmed." I grinned slightly, but had to clench my teeth as Itachi put his hand over the wound, applying pressure.  
"Were you trying to get yourself killed?" He asked.  
I couldn't really answer him. "It hurts..." I said, shutting my eyes tightly. "Itachi... The world is spinning." I opened my eyes, my head swimming. My vision was fading in and out of darkness.  
Blood loss? Was I going to die? I did not think that just pressure would stop a ten-inch knife wound from bleeding.  
And I dimly was aware of Itachi lifting me up in his arms, before I passed out.

_"Hisakata? Hisakata? Can you hear me, Hisakata?"_ I heard a woman's voice float in through my head.  
"Are you my conscience?" I mumbled, still hazy.  
_"Can you tell me what hurts, Hisakata?"_  
"My tail." I replied, still mostly unconscious.  
And then I heard more voices as people talked. I wished they would be a bit more quiet. My head was aching...  
_"Not in good condition."  
"Wounds are deep."_  
I heard bits of the conersation, but I didn't understand.  
"Tobi, you're so emo sometimes," I said blandly. "Don't cry. I'm only going to sleep..."  
And then complete darkness. 


	6. CAN FOLLOW MY DEVIANTART ACCOUNT IF YOU

**Author's Note:** Hisakata's dead, nuuuu. T_T I hate killing my characters. Ugh. R&R!~

_**Six**_

The darkness swallowed me up so I fell into a tunnel. And when I looked up, blinking, I saw an opening at either end of the tunnel. The one to my right was black, but I could hear voices through it. Voices, and a _beep... beep... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_.  
I looked to my left. There was light, not blinding, but soft, warm light pouring out from it, and the pain I was feeling lessoned with each step I took towards that hole. And peering into it, I suddenly saw the face of my grandfather, the grandpa I had never known. I just suddenly knew it was him. And also, my uncle, and below him, wagging her tail, my dog. And on the yellow lab's head sat a hamster, squeaking. Next to them was a girl I recognized. She hadn't been my friend, but had died, taking our school over with grief.  
Everyone with a connection to me who had died was here.  
That meant...  
Standing next to them all was Hanetora.  
And unlike all of their happy, warm faces, he was crying as he looked at me.  
I stopped and fell back into the middle of the tunnel.

For a while, forever, it seemed, everything was a hazy darkness of dim fog. It wasn't peaceful, wasn't boring, wasn't anything. It just was.  
I couldn't talk to Drauru, because he was in the same condition as I was.  
So I just hovered in my mind, waiting for something to happen.  
And all the while, I was running rapidly through dreams, most of which I forgot after they happened, leaving me with the emotions they caused, and wondering where those emotions came from.  
_"Hanetora! You've gotten bigger." I commented. We were both in our demon forms, and he was about three times larger than when I last saw him.  
"You've failed me," he snarled, and I recoiled.  
"What? What did I do?" I cried, hurt.  
"You've failed me." His voice has more of a cry now than a snarl. "You've failed me." And he started fading away, bits of him just blowing away into the wind.  
"Tell me! I shouted as I ran to him. "Tell me what I did!"  
And then, right as he completely faded away and I was left alone, his voice was a whisper on the wind. "You died..."_

Darkness. A tunnel. The black end of the tunnel, now silent.

_**"No!"**_ I shouted, flying up to a sitting position.  
I stopped, panting, sweat beading down my forehead.  
There was a beeping noise. Looking over, I saw one of those machines that monitored someone's heart. It was going in a straight line, _beeeeeep..._  
But then, it started going up and down in a steady tone, _beep, beep, beep..._  
It was monitoring _my_ heart.  
I was in a bed. A white bed, with white covers. And I was only wearing a hospital gown.  
The lights in the room were off. I looked at the covers- they were attached to the bed?  
Looking closer, I found a tag with a bunch of numbers on it.  
And then, I realized: I had, apparently, died. They thought I was dead.  
Hello.  
I freaked out. "Someone, help me! Somebody, please help me!"  
And I heard frantic footsteps, and suddenly, people burst into the room.

There were two doctors- a male and female- and behind them, a girl.  
The same girl I had saved earlier.  
The doctors ran over to me as my eyes widened at the sight of the girl.  
"Okay, I'm confused." I stated truthfully.  
"My god... You were dead..." The man said as the started checking my pulse, heart rate, etcetera.  
"It has to be some sort of miracle." The woman sighed in relief, and I thought, _If you could call a demon a miracle, sure._  
I blinked. The girl stood in front of me, ecstatic. "I don't believe it! The monitors said you were dead, and everything! She said excitedly. "My name is Sachi."  
"Thank goodness. I was so worried that the one who saved my daughter was dead..." The apparent mother said.  
"I'm Hisakata." I mumbled. "Did I really die?"  
"I'm not sure," Sachi's mother said, rubbing her forehead. "I'm just glad you're alive. We tried doing everything we could..."  
"I told you I owe you one," Sachi smirked.  
I suddenly remembered something. "What happened to the man who brought me here?"  
Sachi's mother looked at the window that showed the waiting room.  
I followed her gaze, and saw, standing there in the window like some figure of death, Itachi.  
"Geez, she seems to be completely fine, Dr. Risutoa." The man commented, shaking his head. "Besides the wounds and bruises, she's completely fine."  
They released me a bit later. Itachi had disappeared, but I knew he was waiting outside.  
And he was. As soon as I stepped out and started walking to the hotel, he fell in step beside me.  
"What happened?" I asked without looking at him.  
He was silent, as usual, for a second. "They said you had lost too much blood. The stab wound was said to be fatal."  
That was all he gave me.  
"I had a dream, Itachi."  
No reply.  
"I dreamt that Hanetora and I were in our demon forms, except he was three times bigger than normal. And he kept moaning about how I failed him, and then he started fading away. And right as he disappeared, he told me I died. That's when I woke up screaming."

I was incredibly tired by the time we reached the hotel. I had to ask for another night, since now I needed time to recover, and Itachi still wasn't able to locate a functioning rental service.  
I laid down on the bed, constantly curled over, biting my lip as a general wave of pain came from where I was stabbed every now and then.  
It was horrible. I was panting and sweating as I lay curled up there, facing the window, wondering what had become of me.  
I had to block it out.  
Reaching out for my Mp3, I put on the earphones, and suddenly curled up as another wave hit.  
I quivered, clenching my teeth, but a few agonized sounds escaped my mouth anyways. And then it passed, leaving me panting, and I proceeded to listen to music.  
"Cry alone, I've gone away... No more nights... No more pain...  
"I've gone alone, took all my strength... I've made the change, I won't see you tonight."  
It was difficult to sing. But I had to, to concentrate on something else.  
"Sorrow, sank deep inside my blood- all the ones around me, I cared for, and loved...  
"Building up, inside of me... A place so dark so cold, I had to set me free. Don't mourn for me, you're not the one to place the blame. As bottles call my name, I won't see you tonight..."

"Sorrow, sank deep inside my blood, all the ones around me, I cared for and most of all I loved... But I can't see myself that way- please don't forget me, or cry, while I'm, away..."  
I stopped and took a welcomed break for air as the guitar solo, or musical part, or whatever you wish to call it, came in.  
"So far away... I'm gone. Please don't follow me tonight... And while I'm gone, everything will be alright..."  
I looked at the window again, at the sky, and wondered how my family was coping, if time was actually passing. It had to be, and they thought Hanetora and I were dead. Well, they were half right. Hanetora was dead... And I may of well had been.  
"No more breath inside..." A wave of pain hit me, and I kept singing through clenched teeth, determined to finish that part of the song. "Essence left my heart tonight. No more breath inside... Essence left... my..."  
I pulled the earphones out, unable to finish.  
And then I heard _him_. "Don't stop."

I did not like that night: sleeping was uncomfortable. The hotel beds were fine, but I was mentally on fire. I kept panicking, worrying, wondering if...  
No. No, it wouldn't happen. I wouldn't let it.  
For an hour, I forced myself to stay awake. And then, finally, after all the waves of pain that came and went, I couldn't keep my eyes open, and fell asleep in my clothes.

I woke up to bright sunlight attempting to blind me as it curled around the curtains.  
"Muh..." I mumbled sleepily, rubbing my eyes, and sat up.  
And as the blanket fell away, I immediately noticed that I was only in a bra and underwear.  
I shrieked and pulled the blanket up to cover me, then looked up at Itachi, eyes fearful.  
He was smirking. I think if he wasn't so emo, that would be laughing for ya. And then, I realized, that it was his idea of a prank, because he knew I was afraid of getting raped.

"You bastard!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at him.  
It him him and harmlessly bounced off.

I needed new shorts already, because they were so bloodstained. Hanetora's shirt was worse, but I absolutely refused to throw it away.  
Also, I hadn't gotten a chance to try on my other outfits.  
So as Itachi went hunting for the stupid rental again, I went into a store, picked out another pair of denim shorts, and slipped into the dressing room.  
I tried things on, relishing at how normal it was. And I also thought of how... _weird_... it was.  
_I've been kidnapped by Akatsuki to be used as a weapon of war, and here I am trying on clothes._ I giggled at the thought.  
I was on the last outfit, the white capris, black undershirt, and red jacket.  
I had the capris and the undershirt on, standing in front of the wall-mirror.  
I reached down to pick up the jacket.  
When I came back up, I saw, in the mirror, Itachi standing right behind me.  
We were touching.  
My only top was a black undershirt.  
I dropped the jacket.  
I had frozen, fear running like ice through my veins.  
_Speak._ I willed myself, but my only thoughts were _I want to run away, I want to run away..._  
"G-g-get... Get out o-of h-h-here." My face was white.  
"How is the stab wound doing?" He asked slowly, smirking as his right hand slid under my undershirt, and my skin shivered at the touch as his fingers brushed over the stitched-up wound.  
I couldn't think straight, numb with fear. What was going on? What was he going to do to me?  
"It h-hurts, since you're t-touching it." I stuttered sarcastically.  
"Well, it's good to know that you're still yourself- no brain damage, as far as I'm concerned."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" I growled, trying to sound angry, but failing.  
He smirked again, and I whirled around to face him.  
No one was there.  
I glanced at the mirror.  
No one was there.  
I knew my mind wasn't playing tricks on me- Itachi was playing games on my mind. He had actually touched me.  
I shuddered, pulling on the jacket really fast to make sure it fit, then changed back into my original clothes, running to the store clerk and making the purchase as quickly as I could, wanting to get out of there.

I dropped off the clothes at the hotel again, remembering to take my pack of weapons, now with dried blood on them. Fantastic.  
But I did everything quickly, not wanting to be there.  
The rest of the day was spent walking the streets, buying piping hot ramen from a vendor for lunch, which was so good, I bought another for dinner, leaving the vendor a tip.  
I was afraid to go back to the hotel room, which was why I spent as much time as possible out on the streets as I could.  
I was plagued by the pain of my wounds the entire time, but despite that, I stayed out until it got dark and I _didn't_ want to hang around.  
'Specially after my near-death- or should I say -in-death experience with Sachi and those thugs.  
I was in front of the door to our room. My hand was shaking as I reached for the door after what happened in the dressing room.  
But I closed my eyes, opened the door, and ran forward nervously.  
I ran into Itachi.

As soon as I bumped into him- my heart leaped into my throat as I did- I pivoted around him, and ran to my bed, leaning over it, panting.  
Itachi raised a brow as he turned his head, looking at me like I was funny in the head.  
The bastard. He knew. I knew he knew.  
"Don't stay out too late," he warned, and I saw his eyes drop to where my stab wound was, where he had touched me earlier.  
I covered it with my arms. "Mind your own business."  
And suddenly, in a flash, he was in front of me.  
He leaned forward, his head next to mine. "You _are_ my business," he whispered into my ear, "Because I can't just let you die, now, can I?"  
I quivered nervously. "Guess not," I mumbled, scrambling backwards onto my bed. "I'm going to sleep now."  
I rolled to face away from him and curled up, still quivering.  
I felt the bed lean in as he came up on it, then knelt with legs folded right beside me.  
He leaned right over and held my wrists down again with his right hand, and supported himself with his left, which was right behind my neck on the bed.  
And then he came down, whispering into my ear once more. "Why are you so afraid of me, Hisakata?"  
And though I was trembling, I was still sarcastic. "Would you like a list?"  
"Tell me." He whispered as his head came closer down to mine, and I shuddered.  
"You will kill me if I become useless to Akatsuki, every time I seek freedom, you punish me, you have the ability to torture me beyond belief, you constantly play games with my mind to test out my mental and emotional strength- yes, I know about that- I'm alone with no one to protect from you _but_ you, and thus I'm constantly under the threat of rape. My family and friends are pretty much gone, I'm suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and I'm afraid to leave you despite how much I'm afraid _of_ you, which confuses me, and you seem like you never leave me alone, just because I'm to become a weapon of war for an evil organization, and I never asked for any of this. Is that enough of a reason for you?"  
There was a pause.  
"It's not just because of Akatsuki that I'm not letting you die." Itachi commented.  
I freaked out, refusing to believe he had any sort of infatuation towards me. "Stop playing games with me!" I shouted, turning my head to glare at him-  
I didn't realize the distance.  
We were nose-to-nose.  
There was silence as I froze, my eyes quivering as they were trapped within his.  
And then I turned away, staring at the window, refusing to look up.  
I was still staring that way when I fell asleep three hours later.

Itachi finally located the boat rental service, and we were on a similar sailboat by noon. This service was different from the last, however, and an old man was sailing the boat for us, so we just had to wait.

I was sitting on the front of the boat as usual, listening to music. It was peaceful- the skies were nice and full of beautiful clouds, so it wasn't too hot, but sunny. Our winds were good, too- my spirits were high.  
"Everybody's got their problems, everybody says the same thing to you. It's just a matter of how you solve them, and knowing how to change the things you've been through. I feel I've come to realize, how fast life can be compromised. Step back to see what's going on- I can't believe this happened to you..."  
"Hisakata."  
I paused the Mp3, pulled out the earphones, and turned around. "What?" I asked Itachi.  
"I'm going to train you so you can use ninjutsu by the time you meet the leader."  
I paused. What did this mean, exactly? "Um..."  
And he didn't give me time to think. "Mangekyou Sharingan!"

We were in front of a large body of water in the World of the Grasping Moon.  
"What's this fo- oh, the standing on water thing!" I exclaimed. "You expel chakra from the bottom of your feet or something?  
Itachi briefed me for a minute on the basic procedure. Then, it was time to attempt it.  
"Have you ever used chakra before?" He asked.  
"I believe a couple of times- like when I threw that huge rock to make you think I was going somewhere else. Hey, did the fake trail work?"  
"The false trail led me off for a minute." Itachi admitted, then glanced at the water.  
That meant start.  
I concentrated, trying to bring chakra to my feet, out of the bottoms.  
"It would help if you made a seal to concentrate it better."  
"Oh yeah." I put my right hand up, holding up two fingers.  
And I could feel the chakra flow better...  
"I think I'm ready." I walked nervously onto the surface, where it was hardly any inches down.  
I stopped, looking down at the water. I was on the surface!  
"The chakra is hitting the ground below, making it easier." Iachi commented.  
That meant walk out further.

I walked forward a couple of feet, so it was three feet deep. Good enough for me, I didn't like sudden surprises-  
I broke through the surface.  
It wouldn't have gotten me completely wet, but like any normal falling person, I didn't fall straight down. I tipped forward, and got completely, thoroughly soaked.  
I came up coughing. "Lovely." I shivered, squeezing the water out of my ponytail.  
I toddled back to the ground, where I stopped and shook like a dog, spraying Itachi with water.  
I had to bite my lip before I laughed out loud and tried the exercise again.  
Within ten minutes, I had gotten it. Apparently, my chakra manipulation was great, and within twenty, I was running over deep water, and forty, jumping.  
_This is awesome!_ I exclaimed in my head, finding no point in saying it out loud as I did flips, backflips, and all that fun ninja stuff accomplished with chakra.  
"Cool. Can I walk up a tree now?" I asked, soaking wet and grinning like an idiot as I walked back to land.  
The water disappeared, and was replaced by a forest.  
_Hello. I asked for one?_  
I thought, but then figured Itachi would have me learning to jump from branch to branch.  
I ran straight towards the first one, first trying with too much chakra, then weakening it slightly until I stuck.  
I didn't want to start weak- I didn't like falling.  
It was easy for me- I thought it'd be a lot harder.  
I was among the highest branches, taking a break, when Itachi appeared next to me.  
That meant learn to jump from branch to branch.  
_Hey, I can speak Itachi._ I thought as I steadied myself, picked a branch that looked fairly large, and hopped to it nervously- again, I didn't like falling.  
It was easier stuff then the water exercise- and then, I remembered how Naruto did the tree thing first, _then_ the water exercise. And how the two combined took about a week?  
And the next day, I had mastered it within- well, two days.  
I sat upside-down on a tree branch, smiling. "Others make it look so hard."  
Itachi looked up at me from the ground, twenty feet down. "It is, at first. Your control of chakra is excellent."  
"I wonder why?" I mused, then sighed. "Can we go back now, Itachi?"  
"Not Itachi-sama?"  
I glared at him for his joke. "I hate you, just so you know."  
"I figured."  
"It takes a shorter time to say 'Itachi' than it does to say 'Itachi-sama'. That's all it is."

The old man who sailed our boat was very kind- I could talk with him in the seat of the cockpit for many an hour, while Itachi, being the emo ferret he is, just stayed in the deck sleeping- probably to take watch at night or something.  
We were just talking about how sailboats worked, since I knew a tad bit about them, when the man's brow furrowed and he looked at me.  
"Why are you with this man alone?" He whispered in concern.  
"It's a long story." I replied truthfully.  
It had been. It seemed like ages since I first gave the so-called 'piece of junk' a poke.  
"He's not abusing you, is he?"  
"Depends which kind of abuse." I shrugged.  
The grandpa's frown deepened. "Which kind? Sexual or physical?"  
"Physical, but only when I try to escape."  
"How bad has it been?"  
"Just a few bruises. And cuts. And stabs. The worst of it, though, didn't come from him." And I lifted up my shirt a little bit, showing the large scab/scar thing that was lined with stitches.  
The old man's eyes widened. "How'd you get that monster of a wound?"  
"I was just stabbed by a ten-inch knife." I grinned, making it seem feeble as a joke.  
"It's amazing that you're alive. How'd you end up with that man anyways?" His voice was back to a whisper.  
"Well..." I thought, trying to think of a logical way to explain it. "Have you heard of Akatsuki?"  
"I've already realized he comes from there- Uchiha Itachi."  
"Well, they're looking for power for some reason, so when they found out I had a powerful, um-" I thought again- "Kekkei Genkai, then they stole me away. I tried to escape many times, but I'm no ninja."  
The old man looked thoughtful, and a sudden idea came to me. "Hey, mister- Could you help me?"  
The man's eyes saddened. "I wish I could, miss-"  
"It's Hisakata."  
He nodded. "I wish I could, Hisakata, but I have a family, and this is Uchiha Itachi... See, I work as a sailor here, but live further away, in Mizugakure."  
I sighed, my ideas of escaping vanishing in a tiny poof. "I understand. Don't worry about it- you shouldn't jeopardize your life, and your family's, for me. Really, I have no relatives, friends, or immediate family, so I'm not as important as you are."

Over the course of one day, which Itachi stretched out to seem like a week (Mangekyou Sharingan camp- good for kids of all ages! Not...) so I could learn more in that span of time. He thought me the basic things shinobi should know, and I learned how to use an array of weapons. I sucked at throwing and aiming and such, but when I practised taijutsu, the only flaw was the speed- he said the way I thought of counter-attacking were good, but I had to sharpen my mind so I could use them in time.  
I was taught and memorized the seals, which took long, because my memory sucks, but I practiced afterwards, and I learned them- I just couldn't execute them in time.  
Eventually, after four weeks (four days) I was able to actually practice against him.

"You're not fast enough." Itachi commented as he stepped back from my attack.  
"You don't talk enough." I said through gritted teeth as I flung a set of shuriken at him with my left hand.  
"Your aim is poor, you can't throw fast enough, and you can barely execute a jutsu."  
I stopped, panting. "I changed my mind. You talk too much."  
He hardly smirked, instead, came forward.  
I leaped back, latching my feet onto the mast, stepping backwards- up it.  
He looked up at me, I stuck my tongue out at him.  
I made a seal as quickly as I could, and another me appeared behind Itachi.  
"No cheating with Sharingan!" I yelled down as my other clone ran at him, then steadied myself, and hopped off of the mast, trying to slam/land down onto Itachi.  
I intended to distract him with the other, but of course, it didn't work.  
Itachi let the clone run into him and fade away, he then looked up at me, waiting for me to come close.  
In a flash, I knew he would sidestep- counterattacking was a practice lesson saved for later.  
I glanced around at the boat- his sturdiest place to step on without falling through to the deck was to the side. He'd go there, dodging by a hair.  
As soon as I was a few feet over his head, I pushed forward, rolling into a front-flip in the air, ending with my feet slamming down on my hoped target.  
I got him, smashing my heel into his shoulder.  
He suddenly grabbed my ankle, pulling me forward over his head, then slamming me into the boat.  
I caught myself with my hands, then suddenly bent the leg he had hold of.  
The action pulled me backwards, I stretched out my other foot and kicked him in the face, he moved his head to the side at the last second, then pulled me up by the ankle he was still grasping.  
He was holding me upside-down by the ankle, my face looking at his, trying to send the most hateful message I could through facial expression.  
Itachi merely said "That's enough for now," and dropped me, I hit my head as my back rolled out onto the boat.  
"Ow, sheesh- hey, watch how you hold a lady!" I yelled after him as he walked back into the deck, half-jokingly. "Seriously, the guy needs some table manners..." I grumbled as I walked to the front of the boat and promptly sat down. Not that we had an actual table, but it was an expression. Just an expression.  
So was "Try not to kill me, will you?".  
Which, I used a lot during training.

My thoughts were extremely, boringly indifferent to the entire situation. I was too tired then to worry about Akatsuki.  
Screw them, I could hardly survive training.  
Itachi appeared behind me a couple hours later, announcing emotionlessly that I was going to learn actual ninjutsu.  
And then, of course, he Mangekyou Sharingan'ed me into that world of a hideously ugly shade of red.

"Have you ever thought of redecorating this place? You know, maybe some blues for once? With pink clouds... That would go quite nicely... And maybe for holidays, you could change the place. Like, for Halloween or something, make all the entire thing black with orange clouds. And the-"  
Itachi shot me a look.  
That means shut up.  
I sighed as Itachi went on about how I could think of my own certain jutsu, such as Deidara's explosion addiction, Sasori's puppet thing, and Kisame's sharkey thing.  
My mind wandered, my staring blankly at Itachi as he spoke. I was getting used to his scaryness, which sounds funny, and is, but isn't. Unless he _really_ stared, I was fine.  
My mind suddenly popped to what kind of jutsu thing I'd want to learn. I never had given it thought before (and with good reason... I was _normal_ once...) But I thought about my fanfiction characters. There was weather, dragons, lycanthropy (hey! I'm a weredragonwolf!), other assorted were-animals, wolfy jutsus, and blood abilities.  
I liked the were-idea- I loved animals, but I didn't know how it was possible.  
I noticed Itachi was silent, and my heart skipped. Did I do something? Was he going to punish me?  
He was very punishing, and I tried to avoid it at all costs for my sanity's sake.  
Before he could draw a weapon, I spoke quickly. "Itachi! I want to learn the transformation jutsu. I want to learn it enough so I'm extremely advanced."  
I could have sworn for a second that Itachi raised a brow, but he just stared at me for a second with a cold glare, as if he knew I was pulling him away from the punishing topic, but I gave a nervous, cheesy, smile, hoping for the love of whatever that it wouldn't provoke him.

"She said that she's had enough!" I sang.  
"Standing on my own, remembering the ones I left at home! Forget about the life I used to know, forget about the ones I left at home..."  
I sighed with worry, wondering how I was going to get out of here before was taken to Akatsuki, because I'd never get out there.

I headed back to the cockpit, being careful along the side of the boat.  
My mood was terrible that day. All the anxiety was making the little things get to me, like I'd totally get upset if the wind was even in my face.  
The old man was watching me when I came around, and I knew he wanted something.  
Duh. Obvious, Hisakata.  
So I sat down beside him.  
"What is it, sir?"  
"Oh, dear, call me Koda."  
"Koda...? "His eyes narrowed so that his face looked rather frightening. I leaned back a bit.  
"I'm going to get you away from these people," he whispered quickly so I had to strain my ears to listen, heart pounding. "I used to be a ninja back in the day, so I'm going to help you ou-"  
"No."  
"I'm nearly dead anyways," he stopped and chuckled grimly, "And I'm going to do it no matter what, so unless you want my life wasted..."  
I bit my lip. That old fart! He knew I would never let a life go to waste, damn!  
However, my racing heart overcame my grief that I was putting this man in danger.  
Escape. I was going to be free.


	7. WANT THE ACCOUNT NAME IS Drakewoof

**Author's Note:** Ehehe. Sorry about that, but you guys probably knew she wasn't dead. OH WELL. Oh my, will Hisakata-chan finally get her freedom? Fiiiiiiiind out! And R&R!~

_**Seven**_

We had gone over the plan as Itachi slept in the daylight. At night, when he awoke and took watch, I sang. But I was careful in the songs I chose, not wanting to give it away.  
We reached the harbor in the morning.  
Well, not quite- it was in sight.  
Well, not quite- it was hidden by trees growing out of the water in a forest, which we would have to navigate our way around.  
That is, _if_ we were going to keep the boat any longer.  
As Itachi went down into the deck after his night shift and the man came up, he glanced at me ever so slightly. I went to the very front of the boat, waiting, my palms sweating.  
The old man pulled out a scroll of some sort which he had worked on earlier. He unfurled it, make a seal, said something I didn't understand with the wind blowing in my ears, and the scroll did it's little summoning thing.  
I had no idea what kind of jutsu it was. All I knew was that suddenly, there was a hugantic knife- the length of the boat and the width of four meters, no handle- flying at us.  
It was sharp, apparently.  
Only because it _sliced the boat cleanly in half._  
I gaped, but had no time to stare as the two halves of the boat started slipping apart. I only had time to dimly wonder if Itachi was sliced by the knife thing (which poofed away after it sliced us).  
The old man ran out on the water, grabbing my hand, making a concentration seal with the other. To put it simply, we disappeared.

We reappeared at the harbor, Koda was already running, pulling me along.  
I kept up with his pace as best as I could, bringing chakra to my legs as he led us into a building at the exit of the harbor, some kind of abandoned base.  
Before I knew it, a maze of tunnels was flashing by us, my eyes barely had time to register each one. All I knew was that he was losing Itachi, and I would, with his help, make a clone (he would also) to lead him away. The clones were going to be us pretending to sneak away while the real us stayed in the dead end, waiting to move out.  
Unfortunately, the dead end was going to be put to literal use.

Itachi stood at it, looking at us calmly.  
I screamed. I screamed in frustration of how he always did this, of how it seemed impossible to get away.  
"You're not invincible!" I yelled in frustration as I ran at him with blind sorrow and anger, I ran into him and started chakra punching at those hateful black robes, tearing and yelling insults and curses.  
He stood there looking at my futile blows, not saying anything. And then, he raised a kunai up in the air, ready to bring it down on me.  
Koda came up to block it, but I stepped back, my eyes wide, yelling at him to stay back.  
Koda ran past me right at Itachi, but without even a flash, he seemed to run right through him as Itachi was suddenly facing us and Koda and I were trapped in the dead end.  
"Koda-san!" I shrieked as Itachi threw his arm out, sending needles flying. They hit Koda on the opposite side of his elbows, his knees, his shoulders, and his ankles, and he yelled.  
Itachi walked forward with the kunai drawn, but I stepped in front of the old man, tears of too many things running down my cheeks. The sorrow and anger were now mixed with fear, as I was in the way of Itachi's deathblow.  
"Please, Itachi, don't kill him." I pleaded as he walked towards me. "Please spare his life, no harm can come of it!"  
He kept advancing.  
"Itachi!" I shrieked. "Don't do this!"  
Itachi stopped, and I noticed, for a split second, chakra coming to his right hand. And then he backhand-smacked me clear across the face, it had the force of an all-out chakra punch, it made me spin as I fell to the ground.  
With me out of the way, Itachi then took a step and plunged the knife forward.

In a flash of white, as the dragonwolf, I had jumped into the air and caught the large kunai between my fangs. I had jerked it out of Itachi's hand, and landing crouched, I tossed it to the side and leaped at Itachi.  
Itachi grabbed me by the shoulders, bring the dagonwolf's face up to his. "It doesn't work," he whispered before suddenly grabbing it's neck, squeezing hard enough so that it nearly ruptured, and in barely a second.  
And then he dropped me, unable to move, looking up helplessly.  
God, it felt so terrible to be helpless. A tear came to the dragonwolf's, no, _my_ eyes, and I was able to call out, "Koda!" Right before Itachi killed him.

We traveled most of that day, me nervous with the anticipation that Itachi was going to torture me. Was he? Would he really do it? Would it be long?  
These thoughts made me shudder, so I avoided Itachi's eyes the rest of the time we walked.  
I was not in the best of mental conditions. There was too much going on.  
Possible chances of being tortured, and I was on my way to Akatsuki's base, and I didn't know what would happen there, what the leaders would be like, how I'd survive... _Would_ I survive?  
Most importantly...  
What would happen to me?

I found out, unfortunately. The trip was supposed to be a few days before we got there, so we camped out in some sort of forest. We were at the edge, where a stone cliff rose up, and a cave naturally formed somewhere at the bottom.  
Itachi wasn't hungry, I guess- but I was. I wasn't sure when was the last time I ate.  
So there I was, preparing a fire in the shallow dirt that covered the cave floor. I had gotten wood on the way to the cave, carrying it in my bag (I bought that to carry my other clothes and belongings).  
I dug a narrowish-deepish type ditch, and started laying small twigs across it like a bridge. After this, I layed a small pile of dead leaves over that bridge, then took larger sticks and lined the bridge with them. Then, with slightly thicker sticks, I started to pile them on each other log-cabin style. I made a few layers, then realized I had no flint, and deadpanned, feeling stupid that all that work would go to waste.  
Heat crept up my cheeks, and I didn't dare look at Itachi. I could imagine the flicker of amusement that would be there. His way of laughing. At me.  
It was getting cold.  
I was getting hungry.  
Itachi went in the back of the cave, standing there solemnly, like something out of a horror movie. I ignored him and tried to figure out how I could light this fire.  
And then again, even after being lit, there was probably no way I could hunt.  
I stood up, frustrated, and kicked the entire thing, sending it toppling down. Anger at everything was building up. Why had this happened to me? Of all things to happen, why this? It was too much. It wasn't just unfair- it was _cruel_. Walking to the cave wall, I nearly punched it, but decided that was no way to take out my anger and slid to my butt, wanting to strangle something.  
"Hisakata."  
"What do you want?!" I snapped angrily, whirling around, only to face a pair of Sharingan eyes.  
"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"You plotted with that old man. Your behavior is intolerable, and will have to stop." Itachi said in the red world, facing me about twenty feet away.  
I was currently freaking out, struggling against the ropes that bound me to a pole.  
"Please... Itachi... If anything, not this..."  
He started forward, his robes swishing silently. I struggled harder, forcing rope-burns onto my skin. Like the reaper he walked, until he was in front of me, and I was staring into his robes at knee-level.

My stomach flipped little knots as I could only imagine what he'd do. I tried to crane my head up, to see his face...

Big mistake.

At that moment, he crouched down, so our faces were only inches apart.

My heart stopped.

He didn't move.

The anticipation made me sweat. "Itachi..." I whispered in agony.

His eyes, those black pools of hell, bored intimidatingly into my scared ones. Curiously.

I gulped. Was he deciding how he was going to-

"Stop." He commanded. My train of thought halted in surprise. "Your thoughts... In Tsukiyomi..."

I understood. He knew. He always did, the little bastard.

"B-b-but... stop what?" I stuttered, my heart pounding.

He looked... almost... sad? "I'm not going to torture you."

To my surprise, the ropes slackened. Itachi stepped back, taking my hand gently. He pulled me to my feet, and the ropes fell away.

"I don't understand. After the... the... _mutiny_..." I stammered in confusion.

He laughed. He actually laughed. "I don't believe it. So doing anything against me is mutiny?"

I blinked, slowly, slowly realizing what he meant.

"I've _kidnapped_ you. Doing anything against me is the _right_ thing to do. Then again..."

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of my face, lovingly. _Lovingly._ "You've already tried so hard, haven't you?" He said sadly.

All the times when I tried to escape passed through my head. Trying to stab Kisame and making a run for it. That very first time, that suicidal intention, on the dock, as Hanetora's body floated away. The numerous escape attempts in the water... And the particularly harsh memories of the consequences.

I nodded jarringly, gulping back a wave of tears. "Y-yes... I've tried... really hard... But it looks like I've broken now, right? Finally... I'm..." I shook.

"Sssh." To my surprise- again- Itachi pulled me into him, into an embrace.

The worst part?

I felt so safe, so secure. I felt so _right._ But the worst part...

I started crying.

It definitely wasn't the first time in front of him, but... This was so... so _open_...

My head was against his chest, and I clutched his robes, shaking as tears streamed down my face. I knew I would be embarrassed about it.

Later.

Now, I... I just wanted this...

His arms were completely around my back... He... He was hugging me back.

Hugging me.

Itachi was hugging me?

...After I was able to regain my composure some, I looked up at him, my face wet and flushed. "I don't understand," I said, in one of those weirdly-toned crying voices.

Itachi tilted his head to one side, his hair falling against his face.

"Why..." I cried. "Why the sudden change? You were all quiet... You're usually so cold... But sometimes, you... Act different..."

His eyes carried some understanding.

I continued. "Do you remember?"

We were in Tsukiyomi. He could read my mind. He knew. I continued anyway.

"That time, here, in Sasuke's room... When you said... I made you feel different..."

I clutched his robe harder. "Why aren't you hurting me? And... And.... why are we in Tsukiyomi anyway? Couldn't you do this... In the... normal..."

Itachi put a finger on my lips. I blinked in surprise, falling silent.

"You have to know the truth." He stated, his words echoing. "We're here so I... can show you..."

I suddenly nodded. "I get it. You didn't have to do this."

He was surprised at my correct assumption. Finally, I was reading him.

Ha.

"I'm not supposed to know... This is hard for you to do, isn't it?" I asked him softly. "...Show me..."

He nodded, then stepped back, pivoting so he was standing next to my side. Waving out an arm, he gestured to the empty space before us.

The pole and ropes disappeared behind us. All around us, the world was rapidly changing. Blurry, it changed landscapes. I saw shadows. The image steadily became sharper, until an image formed before us. Two warring sides.

"In our world's history, there was constant war. Countries hired different clans to fight for them. Out of all the clans, two emerged as the strongest."

The image sharpened even more, and I could make out distinguishing characteristics of the fighting people. One side had armor here and there, very traditional plated stuff covering their limbs. The other side- Sharingan! They all had the red Sharingan eyes, and wore darker clothing.

"The Senjuu clan of the forest and the Uchiha were constantly fighting each other. A country that hired Senjuu could expect their opposing country to hire the Uchiha. Eventually, things slowed down."

Images rushed before us, all around us, fast. It was dizzying, slightly frightening, almost. Like being inside of a movie.

Itachi put an arm around my shoulder comfortingly and continued. "Lots of things happened, but... to put it simply... The Senjuu and the Uchiha combined to form the Hidden Leaf village in the fire country. When all the other countries followed the one-military-per-country suit, things calmed down. There was... peace."

I looked at Itachi's eyes. They were longing.

"But there was Madara Uchiha, our leader. His brother had given him his eyes to make him strong to fight the Senjuu. But when they joined forces, that effort was wasted. Madara was furious that his brother sacrificed his eyes for nothing, and opposed the truce. Everyone else thought he just wanted to rekindle the flames of war. It only got worse when the Senjuu leader, not him, was elected the first Hokage. This made Madara madder, even so when the second Hokage- a Senjuu, and related to the first- passed. Then, the third Hokage came. He was incredibly kind to everyone, Uchihas included. But his council, on behalf of Madara, grew to distrust them... It was they who banished the Uchihas to one part of the village, not the Third. So the Uchihas were easier to watch... Madara had fled the village. Soon, the Uchihas realized what was done to them. And they grew angry."

I glanced at Itachi's other hand, it was clenched into a tight fist.

"They started a plan to take over the village, to attack. To start war again!"

Itachi's face was upset, angry. I reached up and held the hand that was around my shoulder. He looked at me, his mouth open slightly. "Then, I came in."

He closed his mouth, looked down, and went on.

"The Third used me to spy on the Uchihas."

I opened my mouth to speak. "But-"

"How did I betray my own people?" Itachi shook his head, closing his eyes. "I just... didn't want there to be war anymore. and the Third knew that. So as the Uchihas thought I was spying on the Third, I was really spying on them. Eventually... I was given... _That_ mission."

I felt a shiver run through my body. Itachi felt it, and looked away. In shame.

"But as strong as I was, I couldn't do it alone. so I sought the person who started it all... Madara.

"I made him promise that if I let him join me in- killing everyone- then he had to leave the Leaf village alone. And... he agreed. So that night came. So I fed those words to Sasuke. But I only did it so he would hate me. I didn't want him to find out it was his clan's fault... So he hunts me to this day." Itachi turned me to look at him, and the images around us fell away.

"Do you understand, Hisakata?" His eyes were wide, frantic. "I'm not the bad guy!"

He left me staring at him, his teeth clenched. For the first time, I was unreadable.

And then... his eyes widened as a tear slid out of the corner of my eye.

His mouth hung open with question, he shook his head slightly. "Why are you crying?"

"You idiot," I sad angrily, more tears falling. "After you said all this... After you relived all of this..."

I looked up at him, fiercely upset. "I'm- so upset! It's just- so sad, any you- you're not crying!"

I shook my head left and right, "Still you won't cry! Still you're trying to be strong!" I shook, reached forward, and grabbed him by the robes, pulling him to me so I could yell at his face.

"You freaking idiot, I'm crying for you!" And then I shut my eyes and fell into him, shaking. It was just... so horrible. Why was this world so horrible?

"I just wish I could do something, anything," I shivered, "I just wish I could make things better. For everyone in this damn world."

I'd never thought I'd see it, but, then...

A warm drop onto my cheek, I looked up.

Itachi had cried. Not exactly the shivering, sobbing mess I was. But he did let a few tears escape.

"Please," he pleaded softly. "Stop crying."

"I wish things would get better."

Itachi rested his head on mine. "Me too," he sighed.

I then pulled back, and he lifted his head curiously. I wiped my face on my sleeve, then looked up at him. Reaching out, I brushed my fingers over his cheek to wipe the small stream that was there away.

He blinked, then smiled sadly. "But, you know, things are going to get better. But... at a price..."

And then he explained to me how he had carefully built up a false perception for Sasuke, and it had to continue. Itachi then told me... that he had to die. Against Sasuke, he had to die. He told me how he wanted to fight him to near death, to draw out Orochimaru.

"So he did absorb him," I muttered.

"Yes, and I am going to remove that cursed seal, once and for all," Itachi said, his lip twitching. "Soon, it will be all over. And..."

"You have to be the bad guy," I interjected. "For so long, you've had to play the bad guy."

Itachi gave a small smile. "I'm used to it. But... I can be the good guy. Only to one person. Only to you."

I sniffed, then smiled. "Guess that makes me special."

Itachi smirked.

I knew he had to die, to put on a great show of attempting to kill Sasuke. Itachi's existence was coming to an end.

And I had to know something.

"Itachi..." I started. When you said that thing to me... About how I made you feel different..."

I looked down, finding it hard to find the right words, the right way to say it.

"I... but... do..." I stumbled, trying to think.

Itachi gently grabbed my arms. I looked up at him, my eyes piercingly serious.

"Uchiha Itachi, are you in love with me?"

**Author's Note: So, what do you think, guys? My original plan was to wrap up the storyline. However, I'm considering continuing it for just a bit longer. So, what should I do? It's up to you. R&R!~ 3**


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